


By God Don't Let Go Of Me

by whichlights



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Blood, Blood and Violence, F/M, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Have Fun!, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, SO season 2 is out but this fic pretends its not, Slow Burn, Songfic, Stranded, Suffering, Volcanoes, a sad gay and a sad bi walk into a fanfic, at this point im smashing letters together, drowning sorta, everything is important e v e r y t h i n g, everything will come around to make you cry, like reaaaaaaaaaaaaally slow, originally inspired by shadows and smoke by gio navas then it kept going, post episode 11 pre season 2, thats all i can promise, this is not how genetics work, this is three fics packed into one bc thats just how i roll, whoopsies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-08-13 09:12:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7971325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichlights/pseuds/whichlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the disaster that was the corrupted wormhole, the paladins struggle to reunite. That may be a little more difficult than anticipated seeing as the universe won't throw them a goddamn bone. </p><p> </p><p> <em>"If you let go I think I may shatter." Keith laughed. "Please just keep looking at me so I can pretend we're going to be okay."</em></p><p>Edit: Allura was confirmed as a teen, but since this is complete and old, I think it's enough to say I don't ship or write for Shalluratt any more<br/>Edit part two: Okay so Matt is a teen now too. This is old. And complete. I don't ship or write for Shatt anymore. Why does this keep happening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yo come yell at me at my tumblr witchlightsands ~~and reblog my art im begging here~~

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter I**

* * *

 

“Hunk.” Lance hissed, motioning for his friend to come over. “We got to get out of here.”

“Blue and Yellow are on the other side of the planet, with a Galra fleet in between us and them! And we haven’t found the others.”

Lance looked to the yellow sky. “Yah, and the castle isn’t nearby with backup. Contact Shiro, we’ll set up a rendezvous.”

It’d been roughly the equivalent of a month since the wormhole incident, when the world had gone to hell. Lance had managed to find Hunk about a week in, and by the limited contact they’d had with the others, Keith, Shiro and Pidge were together. Allura and Coran had been stuck repairing the castle, which Lance felt was indefinitely better than landing on a planet full of Lance-eating plants.

The team had tried to set up a meeting point at an unoccupied desert planet, but apparently “unoccupied” meant something different in Altean, because when they got there, the planet had been infested with Galra ships. Lance and Hunk had barely managed to hide their lions where they couldn’t be found by the Galra. And now they couldn’t find the castle or the others.

Just great.

“All I’m getting is static.” Hunk sighed. “Shiro isn’t picking up. And before you ask, I already tried Pidge and Keith.”

A horrible feeling settled in Lance’s gut. Just to be sure, he turned on his comm and whispered, “Hunk?”

“Yeah?” Hunk turned to look at him. “Why did you whisper?”

“You didn’t hear that in your comm?” Lance asked.

“Was I supposed to?” Hunk’s eyes widened and he cursed. “Something must be blocking communications.”

“Whelp, we’re screwed.” Lance muttered. “The Galra aren’t going to leave any time soon. How are we supposed to get out of here?”

Hunk pointed to where a large ship sat in the middle of the sandy fields of the planet. Just beyond the ship were a few rocky outcroppings- the lions were hidden there. “We can’t walk in the open or they’ll spot us. So we sneak down there and through the ship, and blow some stuff up to high heaven while we’re at it.”

Lance’s eyes lit up. “Now we’re talking.”

-

One of the laws of the universe was that “everything that can go wrong will go wrong” and Lance liked to add “in the worst way possible” for maximum accuracy. The day had already gone horribly- hell, the month had gone horribly -and really the last thing Lance needed right then was another problem.

The ship started rumbling beneath their feet.

“We’re taking off!” Lance yelped, jumping backwards. “But- we can’t!”

“Sh, I hear guards coming! This way!”

Hunk grabbed his bayard and activated it. Lance nodded and did the same. “Might as well bust some heads while we’re here.”

They walked through the ship cautiously, and despite their bold claims, they actively avoided Galra sentries. Two against one ship were not good odds at all.

As they turned the corner, Lance tapped Hunk’s shoulder. “Haven’t we seen that symbol thing before?”

“I think there are a bunch of those everywhere.”

As they tried to find the prisons, Hunk whispered, “Hey, I'm pretty sure we're going in a circle."

"Nah, look, let's go this way."

Lance paused as they looked for central command. "That's the galley _again_."

Hunk frowned. 

“Hunk, where are we?” Lance muttered, finally admitting defeat. 

“I don’t know. Lost?” Hunk looked at him. “Try calling Shiro again.”

Lance fiddled with his earpiece. Static blared back at him. “Nothing. We should get going. There’s got to be an escape pod here somewhere-”

“Did you hear that?” Hunk asked suddenly, holding up his hand. “I thought I heard something- there!”

Lance listened closely, and a chill went through him. “It’s a person, and they’re hurt. Come on!”

Lance and Hunk ran through the halls, following the sound of pain. As they turned the corner, Lance spotted red. “Keith!” He yelped.

The red paladin was curled into a ball, armor ruined where he was bleeding out from the left side of his body, cuts all over his arms. Lance kneeled beside him and put a hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up.” He whispered. “Keith, can you hear me?”

“Shiro… they have Shiro and Pidge.” Keith tried to move and let out a small scream. “They took Shiro and Pidge I couldn’t stop them-”

“Sh, sh.” Lance whispered. “It’s okay. Hunk, look for something to stop the bleeding. Keith, how long have you been like this?”

“Dunno…” He slurred. “Got stabbed.”

“Yes, I can tell, and you’re lucky I paid attention in first aid.” Lance looked up as Hunk shoved a small amount of bandage like material into his hands. “Oh, thank God. Okay, Keith, you’re going to be fine. We need to get to the castle-”

“Castle’s gone.” Keith mumbled, and broke into a coughing fit. “Shiro made them leave. Couldn’t let the lions fall into Zarkon’s hands.”

Lance cursed under his breath and he tried to dress Keith’s wound. “I think you’ve lost a little less than two liters. Try to keep calm and-”

Keith’s eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out. Lance waited a few seconds, but he didn’t wake up. “Or I could be wrong and you’ve lost over two.” Lance muttered. “This is why I’m a pilot, not a medic. Hunk! Help me carry him!”

Hunk picked Keith up gently and easily. “There’s got to be escape pods here somewhere.”

“But Pidge! Shiro! They’re still here!”

“I hate leaving them too, but if we don’t get out of here now we will all die, with Keith being the first because he can’t hold out much longer.”

Lance bit his lip. “Man, I hate it when you’re the voice of reason.”

"Let's get out of here."

Lance nodded sadly.

The escape pods were protected by half a dozen Galra sentries that Lance took out with half a dozen cold shots. For the third time in five minutes, he checked Keith's pulse. "Come on, man." He whispered. 

Inside the escape pod was, hallelujah praise the Lord, a first aid kit. While Hunk reworked the controls, Lance tried to patch up Keith's stab wound. It wasn't pretty or neat, and Lance knew his medical skills weren't all that great. 

The pod started rumbling. "Hunk?"

"Wasn't me!" The yellow paladin yelled back. 

Lance cursed, and that turned into a scream as he was thrown backwards, crashing into the wall. The pod was spinning completely out of control. Lance's vision was blurring, and when he touched the spot where he hit his head, his fingers came away tipped with red. There was a ringing in his ears as the pod crashed into the planet.

There was quiet.

For just a moment.

A yellow sky.

Lance heard Hunk groan. "Okay, I think I broke my arm." He muttered. "That was brutal." 

"They're closing in on us." Lance squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the fact that blood was everywhere. " _Get us out_."

"I'm working on it." There was a click, and the engine roared to life. "Yes!" Hunk called as the pod lifted up and flew away from the planet very fast. 

Lance managed to get over to where Keith was strapped in, meaning he hadn't moved so much. He meant to do something helpful, but suddenly black swamped his vision and he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to try to ease the pounding in his head.

-

There was a rumble and Lance woke up. "What?' He yelped.

"We crashed again." Hunk groaned, rubbing his head with his not-broken arm. "Less hostile than last time, it looks like, but we have no fuel and couldn't leave if we had another place to go."

Lance grabbed his head. "I think I got a concussion or something. I can barely think straight- well, not that I ever do."

"Lance. Not now."

The door to the pod opened and the two froze. A small yellow alien walked in hesitantly, holding a large blade. "This is a Galra vessel." She growled. "What are you doing here?"

"We-we're not Galra. Obviously." Hunk held up one hand in surrender. "We're paladins! Of Voltron!"

"Voltron isn't real." She scoffed, one large rabbit-like ear twitching in dismissal. "What are you doing here!"

"We crashed and we're injured." Lance tried to snap, but it made his head hurt. "Hunk broke an arm, at least, I may have a concussion and Keith got  _stabbed_. By a Galra, might I add?"

Another alien stepped in, this one purple. "Allay, enough." She snapped to the yellow alien. Then she turned to the paladins. "I'm sorry- my mate has a short temper and a distrust of most things. I am Anlee."

"Please help us." Hunk said. "We really aren't Galra!"

"That much is obvious." Her whiskers twitched. "Stay here- you are too injured to move. We will come back with our healer."

The two left, and Lance exhaled. "Twenty bucks says they're actually going to ambush us."

"What? No! They wouldn't." Hunk looked at their sorry state. "... Would they?"

"We don't know. We just don't know." Lance sighed and leaned back. "I mean, if they do, we can't fight back. We're literally at their mercy."

Hunk bit his lip. "Whelp."

Lance gripped his head again. "I think I have the least serious injury. I can work with this."

"Lance, you said yourself you had a concussion-"

"You broke an  _arm_ and Keith bled out until he passed out. Compared to that, a little bump on the head is nothing."

Hunk opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by a conch horn. "What was that?" He asked. "Does that mean trouble or help?"

"Yes." Lance mumbled. "Okay, the sky won't stop  _spinning_."

The small aliens came back, both wielding _very_ sharp knives. They pointed one at each Hunk and Lance. "Don't move." Anlee hissed.

"Couldn't if I wanted to." Lance felt like throwing up. "Thanks for your help." He added bitingly. 

An obviously elderly rabbit-alien stepping forward. She was using a short stick as a staff. She bent over Kieth, who's breathing was shallow, barely there. She hummed and looked at the other paladins. "Sleep." She commanded, tapping each of their foreheads with the staff.

Lance wanted to believe it was because of the concussion that he blacked out.

-

"Lance. Lance. Lance, come on, I can see you breathing, get up."

Lance groaned, rubbing his head. "What the actual hell has happened within the last twenty four hours."

"I was unconscious for about eighty percent of it, so I have no idea." 

Lance's eyes shot open. "Keith!"

He smiled slightly, waving. "Hey."

"Oh, thank God you're okay." Lance breathed. "Wait, are you-"

"I'm fine." Without seeming to think, Keith put his hand on his side. "These Eleyians- that's what they're called -are practically magic. It's just a scratch now."

Lance looked around. "Where's Hunk?"

"Explaining the situation to the clan leader." Keith shrugged. "I was more helpful watching you."

"Are you sure you're okay though?" Lance stood up and reached towards Keith's wound. He rested his hand against Keith's waist, feeling the bandages. "Don't overexert yourself." 

"Geez, you sound like Shiro." Keith leaned away from Lance. "I'm fine. Honest."

"Whatever. You got stabbed."

"You got a concussion and that  _still_ won't shut you up." Keith muttered, crossing his arms. Lance narrowed his eyes. "I heard that."

"We should go find Hunk." Keith said passively. "Make sure he's okay."

Hunk was talking to a blue rabbit person- Eleyian? -when he waved them over with his good arm. The other arm was in a thin sling, which worried Lance. But Hunk was smiling, and seemed to be okay. "Good news!" He said. 

"Oh, thank  _God_." Keith exclaimed. 

"And bad news."

" _Dios mio_ , can't we catch a break?" Lance demanded. 

Hunk shrugged. "Anyways, this is Asoi. She's in charge of everyone."

The blue Eleyian nodded her head. "We've heard tales of Voltron, but until now, we believed they were just that- tales. And you say you are the paladins?"

"Three out of five. The Galra have the other two."

"Which is where our good news comes in!" Hunk said. "We know where Pidge and Shiro are! Or, we will soon."

"Let me guess." Lance deadpanned. "A huge Galran warship is headed straight for us."

"And the distress signal isn't working, the comms are still down, and we have no way to escape or call in back up."

"Great. Fantastic. We all nearly died for this."

"More good news!" Hunk promised. "We had some warning, so we have time to prepare."

Lance sighed. "Let's get going then."

\---

Keith watched as Lance and Hunk discussed some mechanical thing. He'd never had an interest in engineering, and he realized how completely screwed he'd be if he had been on his own. He wasn't completely sure he could fix Red (if she had been there- she and the other Lions should be safely on the Altean castle) or even a toaster. 

Toasters. Such complicated things. They burned.

Keith shook his head. "What are you two even doing?" He asked as they worked on the crashed Galra escape pod.

"Trying to reverse engineer their technology to use against them." Hunk said. 

"Take crash make boom." Lance said at the same time.

Keith gave him a look. "You're not even an engineer."

"No, but I had Hunk as a roommate and hung out with Pidge. You really think I didn't pick anything up?"

"Fair point." Keith conceded, leaning against the blue trunk of an alien tree. "How long did we estimate we had?"

"Um... an hour ago it was half an hour. Three hours before that it was a day. We're not really sure." Hunk made sparks fly up from the wires in his hands. "Some time within the next week work as a time frame?"

"We're screwed."

"Thanks for noticing, what gave it away?" Lance deadpanned and handed Hunk a green wire. "Central command wire, just as ordered. Booyah."

"Please do not say booyah."

"Make me." Lance stuck his tongue out

Keith really hoped Allura didn't still think they were in any way professional.

"Is there any way I can help?" Keith asked. 

"Um, sure."

"Great."

There was an awkward silence, interrupted by the crackling sounds of electricity. Lance cleared his throat. "Whelp, see you around?"

"Yah, I'm going to see how battle ready the locals are." Keith said, realizing that was actually a good idea. 

"See ya." Hunk muttered. "Don't trip and fall on a branch and die."

"Happy thoughts." Keith rolled his eyes. "Mind sending positive vibes?"

"What are those."

Keith sighed. "I'm going to go now before your negativity gets me killed by a falling tree."

"You're the one being negative." Lance pointed out. 

"Maybe I am, but I'm going to be productive while I am. Have fun with your wires."

Within only a few hours of being on this planet, Keith had discovered two things.

One, it was bright. Obnoxiously bright. As in, it psychically hurt to be outside bright.

Two, the Eleyians were all bark no bite, meaning they would wave their sharp knives all they wanted, but they were absolute pacifists. They would threaten three injured teenagers, but not the evil empire actively gunning to kill them all. Typical.

"No, no,  _stab_." Keith nearly begged. "If you see a Galra, you  _stab_."

"Run." Allay corrected. "You run from Galra."

"You were going to stab _us_!"

"I would never."

"Sure." Keith rubbed his forehead. "Sure."

"Why can't you stab the Galra while we run?" One asked.

"That's a good plan!" Chimed in another.

"Or you can run with us!" A third added.

"Because they have my best friend." Keith snapped. "They have the person who is practically my  _brother_."

"What is a brother?"

"It's an Earth thing." Keith yelled. "It's a human thing!"

"You're not a human." One snorted. 

Keith froze. "What?" He whispered. 

"You're not a human." Now the Eleyian seemed confused. "Obviously."

"Um, no? Not obvious!" Keith's voice cracked. "Of course I'm human!"

"No, because-"

There was a roar and Keith looked up. The Galra were here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"They can't be saved." Thace snapped, voice hard. "In war, you have to make hard choices. This is one now. Either come with me now, or die here."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i gotta go to a football game in a bit imma just leave this here

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter II**

* * *

Keith swore very loudly, which earned him a few confused looks from the Eleyians. "Go do your running thing." He hissed, getting out his bayard, already bolting towards the forest. "Lance! Hunk!  _Lance_!"

He got to the wrecked escape pod and they weren't there. He looked around, horrified. "Lance!" He yelled. "Lance, where are you!"

There was a low rumble, and a sound like a loading gun. The bird-like creatures in the trees broke into caws and flew away as the bushes rustled. Keith froze, tightening his grip on his sword. "Lance, Hunk, that is  _really not funny_."

Keith turned around in time to duck a blast of purple light. In that moment, he wished he had a long range weapon. Deciding to cut his losses, he stood up and rushed at the Galra sentry, cutting it off at the legs. 

He tried his comm. "Come on, come on! Back up back up! Where are you!" He cursed and ran back towards the village. 

It was on fire. 

Keith watched in horror as the Galra wrecked the place. Just as he was about to run down- he saw a bit of yellow armor that could have been Hunk -a hand wrapped around his mouth and dragged him into the forest, pinning his arms to his sides.

Keith gave a muffled shout and kicked wildly, thrashing enough to get his mouth free. "Hey! Let go of me you-"

"Great stars, I'm trying to help you." The someone- definitely a Galra -holding him hissed in his ear. Suddenly, Keith fell to the ground, bayard skittering away from him as the Galra dropped him. 

Keith looked up at him fearfully and his eyes burned. "Ah!" He yelped, grabbing at his face. He hissed and looked back up. "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything!" The Galra snapped. "Well, not to you."

"Where are the other paladins! What did you do to them-" Keith surged up, but the Galra grabbed his wrist, claws dangerously close to his veins. His eyes burned again, but less painful this time. 

"The black and green paladins are not on that ship." He said dully. "You know that pod was being tracked, right? And it had an audio recording. Is your side okay-"

"Don't touch me!" Keith yelled, moving away from the Galra's hand as it moved carefully towards him. "What did you do to Shiro and Pidge!"

The Galra looked troubled. "Pidge- the small one -was sent to a work camp. Shiro is still with the Galra. Last I heard, he was on his way to command central. I didn't really have time to check my information. I had to find you."

"What the hell." Keith whispered. "What do you want with me. And where are Hunk and Lance?"

"Hunk is the yellow paladin, correct? They captured him. I don't know where your Lance is."

Keith felt the world fall out from under his feet. "You know." He growled. "You know where Lance is.  _Where is he_."

"Keith-"

"Where is Lance! And how the hell do you know my name! And why are you so obsessed with finding me! And why won't you let  _go_ -"

"Keith, I'm your godfather." He snapped. 

Keith went silent and stopped fighting, letting the distant screams and the sound of the fire roar in his ears. "What?"

"At least, I think that's the human equivalent of the term. In Galran society, I was your father's best friend, and your legal guardian should anything happen to him or your mother." His voice was more gentle now. "My name is Thace. I'm here to help."

"Where. Is.  _Lance_." Keith let out a harsh hiss. 

"He's in a healing pod on my ship." Thace let go of Keith's wrist but still looked at him like he would bolt. "Come with me."

"You could be lying. You could be working with Zarkon. This could be a trap." Keith backed up, his eyes burning with tears this time. "My parents are  _dead_. They were in a fire, and my dad died immediately, and I was the one who had to tell the doctors that my mother couldn't be saved and they could pull the plugs. They were  _human_. They wouldn't have known any of... of  _you_."

Thace looked at him sympathetically. "Keith..."

"I have to save the Eleyians-"

"They can't be saved." Thace snapped, voice hard. "In war, you have to make hard choices. This is one now. Either come with me _now_ , or die here."

Keith backed up and hit the back of his head on a tree. He looked down and realized he'd started bleeding again.

"I'm sorry about this." Thace whispered and brought out a small syringe, and injected whatever hellish substance was in there into Keith's veins. 

He blacked out three seconds later.

-

Keith groaned, rubbing his hand against his forehead. "The-"

"Good, you're awake."

Keith's eyes went into focus, and he saw Thace from across the room, leaning against a wall. Instinctively, Keith growled. The Galra looked at him with blank yellow eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"The hell did you put in me?" Keith snapped, rubbing at his wrist. "What kind of-"

"You need to stop Earth-cursing. And it was Earth based- an anesthesia of sorts. It won't hurt you."

"Nah, just make it easier to _kidnap_ me?" Keith hissed. "Geez. Wow. You're great at this legal guardian thing."

"As your godfather-"

"You're not using that word right." 

Thace frowned. "I'm truly sorry. But if I had allowed you to stay there, you would have been killed or captured. And Zarkon and Haggar would be much less considerate towards your condition than I."

Keith swallowed hard. "Whatever. What did you do to Lance?"

"He's waiting for you on the deck." Thace pointed to a bundle of clothes on the floor. "I thought those would be more comfortable than your paladin armor."

"Get out." Keith muttered. "I'll be up in a minute."

Thace nodded and walked out. Keith exhaled shakily and put his head in his hands, drawing his knees up to his chest, his stab wound yelling in pain. "God what did I do to deserve this? I thought Jesus loved gays."

He breathed for a few more seconds before getting up and getting changed into a grey shirt and dark pants, almost like his usual outfit minus the jacket- that was back at the castle, sadly. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and opened the door.

Five steps later, he was practically tackled in a hug. "Keith!" Lance buried his face in Keith's shoulder. "You're okay."

"Yah." Keith whispered. "But you're kinda crushing my ribs."

"Oh. Sorry." Lance took a step back. Thace was in the background, looking on at them. Keith felt his eyes burn for a bit. Lance took a step back. "Woah."

"What?"

"Let me guess." Thace interrupted. "Your eyes have been sensitive to light lately?"

"I... I chalked that up to my lazy eye." Keith admitted. "And how bright that planet was-"

"Your eyes just  _flashed yellow_." Lance whispered. "Like the irises went bright yellow for a second when you looked at him."

"It burns." Keith said. "When it happens. Has it been happening?" He asked Thace.

"It's a chemical reaction of sorts." Thace shrugged. "That's what I think at this point, at least."

"What triggers the reaction?" 

"I don't know. I've never met a half-Galra, especially not half human."

"Fantastic." Keith muttered. "But why is all this happening now- the Eleyians. The Eleyians and their goddamn magic."

"When you were injured, their magic must have triggered something that allowed your dormant Galra genes to start to reveal certain traits. From what I can assume, you're going to go through a period of your Galra genes revealing themselves and developing your Galran features. And it seems to be happening at an accelerated rate."

"Fantastic." Keith growled. "And I don't suppose you're going to explain that at all. I mean, after kidnapping me and Lance, all you can spout out is some vague science-y crap."

"Kidnap?" Thace seemed confused. "Is that another Earth word."

"You know, abduction! On Earth, I could charge you with kidnapping and you'd get arrested!" Keith felt Lance's hand touch his shoulder as if to hold him back from ripping Thace's throat out.

"As your legal guardian, I was within my rights to remove you from a situation I deemed dangerous using any means necessary." Thace frowned. "As long as you, my charge, were under twenty, it was fine."

"What?" Keith shrieked. "That's a  _thing_ in Galran society? What! The! Hell!"

"I take it it is not an appropriate thing on your planet?"

"No!" Lance actually had to hold Keith back that time. Keith snapped at Thace, growling. "You basically stole me! And Lance isn't your  _charge_ , so what was your excuse with him?"

"I went with him willingly." Lance muttered. "Well, not willingly. But I was bleeding out anyway, so it was either die a painful death or trust the guy not shooting at me, so, hey, what did I have to loose?"

Keith broke away and crossed his arms. Thace looked at him with a deadpan expression. "I think it can be assumed your hormones are going to be all over the place for the next few days."

"Gee, great. Space puberty."

Lance snorted. Keith glared at him. "You don't get to laugh at me."

"What? But we had a _bonding moment_. I cradled you in my arms!"

As if it was possible, Keith glared harder. 

Lance shrugged. "I'm going to see if I can locate the castle and contact Coran and Allura. They need to know about Hunk and the others."

"Don't mention... this." Keith waved at his eyes, feeling helplessness settle in his gut.

Lance looked at him softly. "Wouldn't dream of it." He whispered. 

\---

Keith didn't sleep very well that night.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a very keith centric chapter :)
> 
> dont worry youll find out whats happening over in Shiroland soon enough 
> 
> My tumblr is witchlightsands come yell at me anytime man


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Not. A. Word." Keith hissed, sitting down with choppy motions, eyes flashing bright yellow. "Not a single damn word."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this like an hour early

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter III**

* * *

Shiro groaned and rubbed his head, and his heart practically stopped when he realized where he was. "No..." He whispered, backing up until he hit the wall of his cell, hands scrabbling at the wall like he could tear through. "No no no no no. Not again. God you can't be this cruel."

"I remember you crying out to your God last time." Someone said from the outside, laughing. "And guess what- you're on your own this time."

"No!" Shiro screamed and rammed into the door. The Galra outside laughed. "Have fun Champion."

Shiro curled into the corner, blatantly ignoring his Galra tech arm.  _It'll be okay._

_It'll be okay._

After what could have been an hour or a week- he had no way of knowing -someone hauntingly familiar was thrown into his cell with him.

"Matt?" He whispered, recognizing the soft brown hair. Then the figure coughed and Shiro could literally feel his heart stop.

"Pidge."

The green paladin looked up at him. "'Sup?"

"What... what are you  _doing here_?"

"I got caught too, remember?" Pidge smiled. "They thought I was Matt and Matt was me."

"But you had your paladin uniform..." The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. "You did it on purpose."

Pidge gave the trademark mischief smile. "We had a few minutes, so we swapped clothes."

"You damned yourself to save him!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Pidge yelled. "He's my brother and I love him and he wouldn't have survived going up against you!"

"Go up against  _me_. They were going to pit me... against Matt..." Shiro looked at Pidge in horror. "And now you're here in his place."

Pidge sat up straighter. "He's slightly safer now. It was an easy decision."

"Pidge, they'll make me  _kill you_." Shiro screamed, tightening his Galra arm into a fist, tears stinging in his eyes. "I won't have a choice!"

"Small price to pay!"

"You're fourteen, you have your whole life ahead of you, you... you're fourteen. You're too young to die."

"Would you rather it be Matt?" Pidge asked quietly.

"No." Shiro whispered. "Thank you for saving him. But... did the price have to be you?"

"I think I could beat you." Pidge grinned, eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

Shiro pulled his friend in for a hug so they could both cry in peace. "Of course you could."

\---

Keith woke up the next morning with a toothache. He rubbed at his jaw, then felt the tooth with his index finger. "Ow!" He yelped, and his finger came away bloody, with a tiny cut in it.

Keith growled and stormed out to find Thace. When he found the Galra, he growled again. "You- ow!" He covered his mouth with his hand. Slightly embarrassed, he muttered, "I cut my tongue."

Thace looked at him sympathetically. "Let me see. As you Earthlings do, say 'ah'!"

"Aaah." Keith said dejectedly. Thace looked at his mouth analytically before nodding. "Your fangs are coming in."

"My what."

"Fangs! At the rate you're growing and developing Galra traits, they should be fully in by the end of the day."

"Screw. My life." Keith sat down and leaned against the wall. "My eyes flash yellow for no apparent reason- wait, actually, it's a chemical reaction to  _something_ -and now I have fangs. What's next? When do I start getting murderous tendencies!" 

"Oh. That's what's bothering you." Thace smiled slightly. "Those aren't genetic."

"Well thank God." Keith snapped. "So I'll only  _look_ like the most hated race in the galaxy. And how did you know I-"

"Galra have heightened senses. It may sound odd, but I could practically smell your sadness."

Keith's stomach twisted. "Go away."

"Keith-"

"Just... leave me alone." Keith brought his knees to his chest and ducked his head down.

"Alright." He heard Thace leave, and allowed himself a small whimper.

"What is wrong with me?" He whispered, and yelped as he cut his tongue again. 

That was the breaking point and he started to sob. 

\---

Lance tapped on Thace's computer system, trying to figure out how it worked so he could contact Coran and Allura. "Pidge would understand this better than me." He muttered, and tried poking a few of the buttons. "Hey Galra Siri, can you locate the Castle of Lions?"

Surprisingly enough, the screen whirled to life in front of him. After a few stunned seconds from Lance and a few seconds of robotic beeping from the computer, there was a ding.  _Castle of Lions not found._

Lance blinked. "Woah. Galra Siri! Where's... the Red Lion of Voltron?"

The horrible feeling in his stomach needed to be ended or justified. 

_Red Lion found._

"Holy crap."

"What is it?" Thace asked from behind him.

"Ah! Um." Lance glanced at the screen. Thankfully, it was blank now. "Nothing!" He said cheerfully. "I just was thinking about Keith. It just kinda hit me he's part... well, part Galra."

Thace nodded. "It's tough for him. But he'll come around."

Lance laughed slightly. "Of course! Hey, do you have any food on this old thing?"

"Of course. Three rights and a left." 

"Thanks!" Lance tried not to look like he was sprinting away.

Instead of trying to find food (later, stomach) he went to look for Keith. Thankfully, they were in the same place.

"Keith?"

"Lance." Keith looked up, lip bleeding. Lance winced. "Yikes, what happened?" He went over to him and kneeled in front of him.

"I have fangs." Keith muttered. "Or, I will. Right now it's just sharp and hurts like hell and I keep biting my lip and cutting my tongue." 

"That's gotta hurt." Lance leaned forward to wipe the blood away with his thumb. "Maybe we can find some first aid around here, or ask Thace."

Keith made a face. "I don't trust him."

"Me either." Lance agreed. "He's up to something, and his computer can locate Red."

Keith went still before replying. "He's hiding something."

"Obviously." Lance paused. "I think we should have some kind of code word or phrase. Like if one of us finds out something, and we think we're in danger. We say the code word, he won't understand, we bolt."

Keith rolled his eyes. "That's stupid. What did you have in mind?"

"Shouldn't you know better by now?"

Keith frowned. "Know what- oh."

"See! It plays perfectly into our fierce rivalry!"

"You're ridiculous." Keith laughed, then winced. "Ow."

"Ah, right. Fangs. Come on, let's go find some first aid." Lance held out his hand and helped Keith up. He smiled and followed him.

About five seconds later, Keith's head started to ache. He made a face and itched at the side of his head.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked. "I know we don't trust him, but should I get Thace?"

"No." Keith snapped. His gaze softened. "I just... I think I'm going to go lie down. See you later."

"No problem. Bye." Lance called after him.

Keith pulled a blanket over his head and groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. 

\---

Keith was locked in his room for two days before emerging on the third. Thace and Lance had been in the dining room-ish area eating when Keith stalked in. Lance smiled at him before seeing his sour expression.

A pair of pitch black ears were pressed flat against his skull, and could be mistaken for part of his hair at first glance. At the right angles, the light caught them just right and they were so dark black they shimmered purple.

Thace smiled softly, but he looked distracted, staring at Keith's new ears. "Are you okay?" 

"Not. A. Word." Keith hissed, sitting down with choppy motions, eyes flashing bright yellow. "Not a single damn word."

"Watch your language." Thace sighed.

Keith slammed his hand on the table. "I don't need a _replacement_ Shiro, thanks!" He stormed off. 

Without thinking, Lance went after him. 

Keith was leaning against the wall, ears pressed flat. "This is so screwed up." He whispered. "I'm a freaking Galra. You can run away in terror now."

"Nah." Lance sat down next to him. "Hard to when you look so sad."

"Allura and Coran are going to  _hate_ me." Keith whispered. "Pidge too. And Hunk saw what they did to the Balmera.... I... I don't even want to think about Shiro's reaction." 

"They'll come around."

"You can't get past freaking  _ears_. And  _fangs._ And eyes that flash yellow for no apparent reason!" Keith looked up at Lance, and as if on cue his eyes flashed. "God knows what other genetic freak mutations are going to show up."

"Hey." Lance whispered. "You're still you, dumb mullet-head."

Keith laughed dryly. "You're a pretty good liar."

Lance watched as he fell apart into sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey my tumblr is witchlightsands and if you ask i give out snippets of the next chapter and sometimes i make art
> 
> ps there definitely is a pattern to Keith's eyes flashing... and it will be revealed eventually... but for now make your guesses :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You didn't know?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its like 12:30 and i have to get up for school in six hours so here

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter IV**

* * *

Keith hated crying in front of people. And of  _literally anyone ever_ , it had to be Lance who saw him break down. But now he'd started, and he couldn't stop, so he just hugged his knees tighter and let out shaking, ugly sobs. 

On some plane of awareness, he could hear a soft shushing noise, and then Lance hesitantly wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders. "I'm here." He whispered. "Does this help or should I go?"

Keith choked back a sob. "You're fine." Keith inhaled slightly. "You smell like the ocean." He mumbled.

"Glad to know." Lance hugged Keith against his chest. Keith was too tired to care at this point, like every emotion had been sucked out of him. This was nice though.

Keith twitched his left ear. "It hurts to keep them pressed down like this. Like keeping headphones on too long."

"I don't mind."

Keith relaxed as his ears sat up straight on his head. The left one twitched. "They're just a bundle of fluff and nerves on the top of my head." He muttered. "I don't get what the big deal is always about cat ears. They suck."

Lance laughed and his breath tickled, and Keith accidentally whacked him in the face with an ear. He turned red. "Sorry."

"They're soft." Lance simply brushed at the ear with his hand, and Keith let out a low rumble that started in his chest and built up in his throat.

He froze. "I purred. I just... I purred." He buried his face in Lance's shoulder. "Please just kill me now."

"It's fine." Lance whispered.

"No, it's not, because humans don't freaking  _purr._ " Keith felt his eyes burn, meaning they had flashed yellow again. He growled. "I'm not human. Hell, I'm not even Galra! I'm a genetic _freak_!"

Keith shoved himself away from Lance and it felt like he was tearing himself in two.  _Don't distance yourself from your lifeline!_

_Don't let him get hurt by whatever the hell is going on with you._

"I'm going to go." Keith snapped and stalked away. "The purring freak has better places to be."

Harsh.

"Sure." Lance said passive aggressively. "Do whatever the hell you want. I just wanted to help, but whatever."

\---

Thace's ship had a training deck. 

Because of course it would.

Keith just needed to blow off some steam.

His bayard was there, and he grabbed it, holding it too harshly in his hand. The sword activated and Keith took a swing, just to get warmed up, sort of. It was tougher without an opponent, and he briefly considered asking La-

No. Not him. Not after... _that._

God, his emotions were everywhere today. 

"You know, you're holding it wrong." Someone said. Keith jumped, and aimed the tip of his sword at Thace.

Thace looked unamused. "Point that somewhere else for now." Thace went to the far wall and grabbed a staff. 

"Attack me."

Keith blinked. "What?"

"Attack me." Thace sighed. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Usually the 'attack me' is just subtext." Keith deadpanned, then struck.

Thace blocked him smoothly and pushed back with his staff. "You're too bold." He snapped, avoiding Keith's sword as he swung again. "You just left your entire side vulnerable- your  _injured_ side, might I add."

"Shut up!" Keith growled, snarling, ears flattening. 

"Dodge!" Thace yelled. "You're all attack, no defense unless you absolutely have to!"

"So?" Keith ducked into a roll and came up behind him for an attack, but Thace was already in position to block him. "It's worked so far!"

"Your form is sloppy, your technique is imperfect, and you're trying to bluff your way through on pure strength rather than skill." Thace said evenly, and his staff struck Keith's hip, knocking him down. He rolled with it and was back up in a few seconds. "That. More of that."

Keith growled. "I can do what I like."

"Well, that's going to get you killed." Thace's ears flattened. "Look-"

"Out of everyone in the entire goddamn universe,  _you_ had to be my legal guardian?" Keith attacked him twice as fierce.

Thace smiled bitterly. "You fight like-"

"A Galra soldier! I KNOW!" Keith spat, throwing his sword across the room. 

"Please tone down your animosity."

"Screw you." Keith snarled. "You are literally not helping me any. How the hell do I manage my ears! Why does everything smell like I've been chewing gum! Why do I feel like my emotions are strung out and stretched and stressed!  _How the hell do I stop cutting my tongue on my fangs!_ "

"Keith. This is a very stressful time for you. Maybe-"

"No kidding." Keith almost yelled. "Some alien cast some kind of magic on me and I was just confronted with 'you're a Galra' and practically getting kidnapped and Shiro is with them again and Hunk and Pidge are there too and I upset Lance and Allura and Coran are God knows where and I don't know if Red or the other lions are okay-" it was then Keith realized he was crying, angry tears streaming down his face, and he kept talking "-and I have no idea what is happening and I never wanted any of this and I am  _not_ qualified to be a paladin of Voltron _I can't do this_."

"Keith..."

"Leave me alone." Keith growled and stalked away.

\---

"Paladin? Paladin! Wake up paladin! Oh, what's his name again?"

"Lunk! Lunk get up!"

"No, it's not that! Hunk! Yellow one! Wake up!"

Hunk groaned and opened his eyes, a bright sky filtering light down through trees, two concerned Eleyians looking down, leaning over his face.

"Allay?" He groaned. "Anlee?"

Allay breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive."

"Some Galra hit your head and left you before running into the wood." Anlee explained. "We dragged you away from the fires. We're many runas away from our village."

"Your village... I'm so sorry we couldn't save it." Hunk whispered.

"No matter." Allay shrugged. "Others survived the blaze as well. We will rebuild our village. I needed to remodel anyway."

"Where are Keith and Lance?" Hunk asked, looking around. 

Anlee tilted her head. "Red and blue? The red one was in the wood, looking for you, and the blue one was carried off by a Galra."

Hunk cursed. "We have to find Keith."

"My mate is the best tracker in the universe." Allay boasted, then looked down. "But the red paladin isn't anywhere near the vicinity. In fact, his scent mingles with another Galra before disappearing."

"So  _two_ Galra took Lance and Keith?" Hunk asked. 

Anlee blinked. "What?"

"You said another Galra-"

"Yes. The red paladin and whoever took him." Anlee blinked at Hunk's stunned expression. "You didn't know?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is still witchlightsands and im always bored come chat with me so i can procrastinate reading a separate peace


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"That's how Shiro taught me to fight, anyways. Don't be afraid to bite, kick, and scream like hell."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the most last minute thing ever written and im not gonna look over it bc #nobodygottimeforthat ((this isnt supposed to be posted for at least another hour and a half but shhhhhh))
> 
> anyways i want season 2 but also can i finish this fic before then

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter V**

* * *

Shiro beat against the door, Pidge watching in the corner. "That's not going to work."

"It has to." Shiro grunted, ramming his shoulder into the door. "You have to get out. You have to save Matt-"

The door slid open. Apparently it was a pull door, and Shiro's face got hit by the door. Stumbling backwards and rubbing his nose, he looked up. 

"Time." A Galra soldier grinned. "Which paladin gets to live?"

\---

Keith knew he was being ridiculous, in a way. There were exactly three people on this ship, including him, and he hated one of them. The correct course of action was not to make the only other person hate him.

And yet he wouldn't go and talk to Lance. 

It was dumb, and it was probably going to bite him later on, but Keith couldn't summon the effort to go talk to him at all. When they passed each other in the halls, they regarded each other emotionlessly, and Keith felt a tiny piece of his heart shrivel up and die every time. 

Because he didn't spend time with Lance, the only other person to spend time with was Thace. So unless he wanted to spend the next undeterminable amount of time holed up in his room alone with himself (disgusting), Thace was what he got. 

Even if he drove Keith up a wall. 

"Left, dodge  _left_." Thace insisted. Keith's ears flattened and he growled, but dodged Thace's staff. "Sloppy."

"You're a lot more critical than the Gladiator." Keith panted, blocking and kicking Thace's shin. He fell with a thud and Keith hopped backwards. "I win."

"Get over here! Yes, that was good." Thace stood up, preparing for another round. "Against the rules, but good."

"What rules?" Keith blinked. 

"The common etiquette of a Galran duel. You fought dirty. If we were dueling for someone's honor, or because you insulted me, that move would have disqualified you."

"Yah but we're not dueling. And I won't be dueling anyone. And when I am  _fighting_ , there aren't rules. So I still win." Keith shrugged. 

Thace looked at Keith with narrowed eyes, pale yellow and glowing slightly. 

"That's how Shiro taught me to fight, anyways. Don't be afraid to bite, kick, and scream like hell." Keith looked away uncomfortably. "Besides, don't most duels end with a ceasefire or a draw or something?"

"Not Galran duels. You end with a surrender or a murder." Thace took his stance, staff raised. "Like so."

"Oh God why." Keith muttered before bouncing away on the balls of his feet, swinging his sword in an arch. 

Thace had little to no point to Keith at times, seeing as he absolutely failed as a parental figure or explainer of Galra things, but he was a good sparring partner. Even if Keith was bruised black and blue in places.

He barely avoided a blow to his recently healed side, and sliced the tip off of Thace's staff. Thace gave him a look and attacked again, and Keith yelped as he fell to the ground with a thud.

"I win."

Keith grumbled something under his breath, and grabbed Thace's hand to get up. He chose to ignore the claws.

He flicked one ear like he was swatting away a fly. "What's that noise?"

A few seconds later, Lance burst in, eyes wide. "Your computer is blaring sirens and flashing red and I swear it wasn't me."

\---

"Keith... a Galra..." Hunk paced back and forth. He'd been doing this for a while. Allay and Anlee were starting to get worried. 

"Paladin?" Allay prompted. 

"Keith can't be a Galra!" Hunk burst out, arms gesturing wildly. "That would mean he lied to us! Or maybe he didn't know? But how could he not  _know_? But Keith is a paladin! That means he's on our side! But if another Galra has him that means- what if they try to turn him against us!"

"Paladin." Anlee said soflty. "Hunk."

"What if they corrupt Keith? What if he just didn't tell us because he was scared? He must be so scared right now." Hunk tried to wrap his mind around this, and a new horror dawned onto him. "Oh no... _Lance_."

"Paladin!" Allay snapped. "You're not helping anyone, least of all yourself, with this senseless worrying!"

"Alright... I just..."

"Hunk?" His helmet crackled. 

Hunk could've cried. He snatched it up. "Allura?"

"Where are you? What happened? Why can't I contact the others?"

"We got separated horribly when we were trying to come back together. Comms have been down since then! How did you contact me!"

"Everything seemed to be in working order. Someone must have been purposefully jamming the signal."

"Keith and Lance are together... I think? But Galra captives. I think. And Shiro and Pidge are also together. And also captives. That I'm sure of. I think."

Allura said a word that was probably an unholy swear in Altean. "Oh no. Coran, we have to find them."

There was a pause and a rustle, and Coran's voice blared in Hunk's ears. "Shiro and Pidge, as high stakes paladin prisoners, and with Shiro being the former Champion, would be at Zarkon central!"

"Uh, isn't that where we were when we got blasted into a wormhole and separated?"

"Precisely! Do you have a way to get there?"

"No."

"What about your Galra pod?" Anlee asked.

"No, it's broken." Hunk sighed. "It'd take too long to fix it."

"Who's that?" Allura asked. 

"Anlee, and her mate Allay. They're Eleyians."

"Eleyians? They're old allies of Altea! I know where you are! Hold on, and we'll pick you up!"

"Oh, thank God." Hunk breathed. "And... Allura... I think there's something you should know..."

\---

"What's going on?" Keith yelled as Thace dragged him and Lance to the control room.

"That alarm means I messed up the navigation." Thace muttered a word that might have been a Galran curse word. Keith memorized it for later. "And we're just a few light seconds away from Central Command."

"Isn't that where you said where they took Shiro and maybe Pidge?" Lance asked. 

"Yes, but there's no time for this we have to change course-"

"No! We have to go after them!" Lance demanded. 

"We will get killed." Thace muttered.

"So will they if we abandon them!" Keith argued. "Let this ship run it's course- we have to go after them."

"Are you serious? You will get killed on  _sight_." Thace yelled at Keith. "You'll stick out with those ears and your skin."

"I can wear my helmet! That'll hide them! I'll be damned before I leave Shiro!"

"And you can keep me from helping Pidge when I'm dead!" Lance chimed in.

" _Teenagers_." Thace muttered. "You're ruling with your  _emotions._ Use your brains- surely humans have those?"

Lance snarled. "How do I fly this thing?"

"Oh, no, I'm flying my ship." Thace snapped. "Hold on, this is a horrible idea but we're going."

Keith exhaled and leaned against the wall and Lance put a hand on his shoulder.

\---

The arena was deafeningly loud. Shiro looked around in horror, Pidge trembling beside him.

"It's going to be okay." Shiro's voice cracked. "I won't let anything happen to you."

He was pretty sure he could restrain his arm for long enough to Pidge to get away or attack him. He just had to keep control...

"Why don't we soften them up first?" The mediator jeered.

A gate opened and in came the first monster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "so what are your passions" "queer paladins and alien swear words"
> 
> Alice_Hatter wanted a snippet of pov from the first chapter when Shiro and Pidge got taken and Keith got stabbed, and I'll post it on my tumblr once we reach 100 kudos!
> 
> my tumblr is witchlightsands and i can and will give snippets


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"We have no idea where anyone is, we can't loose each other too!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was some inconsistency last chapter and possibly further back than that, sorry. I think i fixed it. As far as Thace knows, Pidge got sent to a work camp. Only Shiro knows Pidge switched places with Matt and is actually with him. Keith and Lance are working with Thace's information. Just needed to clarify in case I confused anyone, because it's actually important next chapter.

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter VI**

* * *

 "Maybe you should reconsider." Thace said as they looked out the window to Zarkon's central command. Keith gulped. Had it gotten bigger since last time?

"I won't leave my brother." He whispered. Thace gave him a sympathetic look. "You remind me of your father."

Keith froze. "My-" When he turned around, Thace was gone. 

Frustrated, Keith tapped on the window, looking for a way in. It was definitely bigger. They'd done some remodeling. Just by looking at it, he couldn't find an easy, sneaky way in. He pressed his head against the glass. "I can't do this." He whispered.

"Sure you can." Lance said, moving to stand beside him. "You've been able to do everything else so far."

"Except kill Zarkon, which was probably the most important thing." Keith shrugged and kept looking out the window. "Also I lost Shiro and Pidge in the first place."

"Stop focusing on the past." Lance said. Keith straightened up and looked at him. "We are horribly outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and, honestly, out-planned. We have nothing and we are going to loose."

"You are what we call a  _pessimist._ "

"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist." Keith snapped, rubbing at his ears. At Lance's expression, he immediately slumped. "Are you mad at me?"

"What-"

"Incoming!" Thace yelled as the ship was hurled sideways. Lance yelped and fell over, with Keith landing on top of him and getting the air crushed out of his lungs. "What the hell Thace!" Keith yelled, standing up and leaning against the wall as the ship jerked right.

"Blasters!" Thace cursed, flipping switches wildly. "They're shooting at us! My _ship_."

"That sounds like a you problem!" Lance snapped as Thace made a wild dive and he hit his head on the wall. "How about not getting us all killed with your reckless driving!"

"I won't be able to land." Thace looked at them. "You have your paladin armor on, good. Helmets on? Jetpacks functional?"

"Thaaace." Keith said worriedly. "What are you doing-"

"Go!" 

The next thing he knew he was being ejected into space.

\---

As they flailed in zero-g in the middle of practically a war zone, Lance wondered where he went wrong with his life. 

He grabbed Keith's hand to keep them from drifting apart and pointed to the large command center and made gestures with his free hand.  _Get to the ship. Get in. Find Shiro and Pidge. Get out. Yell at Thace._

Keith nodded and they activated their jetpacks. 

Once inside, they panted for air. "I'm gonna kill him." Keith muttered. "What. The. _Hell_."

"Yell at Thace later." Lance promised and looked side to side. "Okay, looks like the coast is clear. Let's split up."

"What? No." Keith looked at Lance, eyes briefly flashing yellow in a look of fear. "We can't split up! This is a rescue mission!"

"We'll cover more ground faster."

"We'll get lost and that won't help anyone." Keith argued. "Comms still aren't working, remember?"

"It'll be fine." Lance promised. "We'll find Shiro, information on Pidge and Hunk, and... then something."

"We have no idea where anyone is, we can't loose each other too!"

"I'll go this way, you go that way?"

Keith scowled, and Lance imagined if his helmet wasn't on, his ears would be flattened in passive aggressive anger. "Fine."

"Hey, see you in a bit."

Keith's expression softened. "See you."

Lance ran down to the left while Keith ran to the right. Lance looked in every cell he could find, desperate to find his friends. 

Hopefully Keith was having more luck than him, because so far Lance had found exactly one Galra dust bunny.

The base rattled and Lance grabbed the wall for support. Outside, there was a flash of characteristic blue light and... no way... was that-

The Castle of Lions was here. In that moment, Lance could have cried.

Lance debated getting out his bayard and shooting things to make them notice him, but then he was preoccupied.

"Lance?"

"Hunk!"

Lance ran up to his friend- who was here! In the flesh! -and hugged him tight. Hunk hugged him back. "What are you doing here?" Hunk asked. 

"Looking for Shiro and Pidge!" Lance beamed at him. "Keith's with me too- we split up to cover more ground."

Hunk grinned. "We have to hurry- Allura, Coran and Allay and Anlee can't hold off the Galra forever."

"Wait, how did you escape?" Lance asked, taking a step back.

"What?"

"I was told that you got captured by Galra!"

" _Told_? The way you use that word worries me. If anything, I thought you and Keith got caught by the Galra that knocked me out!"

"Knocked you... out..." Lance put it together. "Thace, that lying bastard!"

"Who's Thace?" Hunk yelled as Lance ran back in Keith's direction.

\---

Shiro panted and backed up, blood- not his -dripping from his tech arm. He was shaking slightly, and his brain felt like it was on the verge of jumping off a cliff or into a pit of darkness. Yah. Pit of darkness.

"How many monsters is that?" He asked Pidge, voice raspy.

"That was number four." Pidge's voice trembled. "Shiro-"

Most of the stands were now empty, but somehow the doors were opening to reveal new monsters every seven minutes. Shiro had thought it was on a 'every time you kill the monster you get the next one' and simply tried to evade. That plan failed when the door opened and they had to fight two at once.

Shiro knew it would all be over the second the Galra decided to control his arm and make him kill Pidge. So far they seemed to be having fun watching Shiro dissolve further into the dark pit every time he struck down something that probably used to be an innocent creature. 

Like he used to be.

Like Pidge  _was_.

Shiro growled as the door made a creaking noise and he swung around to fight again, shoving Pidge behind him, and loosing a little bit of himself as he raised his hand.

\---

Keith ran through the halls of the Galra ship, heedless of sentries. He chopped them down in their path. He had to find Shiro.

He only stopped when he ran into a Galra. 

He looked up, ready to fight, but paused when he saw it was Thace. "What the hell! You can't just eject us into  _space_!"

"You lived." He deadpanned. "Come on, I know where the gladiator rink is here. That's most likely where or near where they're holding Shiro."

Keith had never run faster. 

\---

It was a mistake and it cost him dearly. 

Shiro turned around a little too fast, arm still activated, and hit Pidge in the stomach.

It was a clean gash, smooth, and tore through the thin prisoner suit easily, and blood started pouring out fast. Shiro may have screamed, or he may have just mouthed the word, but in some capactity he said  _no_.

Pidge collasped at his feet, bleeding. Noise blurred. A new gate didn't open. 

And there was a single, hauntingly familiar voice crying out his name.

"Shiro!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my ao3 is witchlightsands pls validate my art


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I want you to lead Voltron."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE I'M UPDATING TWO DAYS EARLY
> 
> I had a lot of free time this weekend and I have the next few chapters prewritten, so I'm just going to do an update spam until I'm out/tired/can't keep up. I usually update once every five days, but it'll be once every three days until further notice!! hurrah!!
> 
> also this is why its important that matt and pidge switched places

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter VII**

* * *

Keith looked down at the arena, at Shiro standing over a bloody Pidge- _Pidge,_ who was supposed to be  _not here_ -and almost jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

But Shiro's face was horrified and Pidge was still breathing. So he had to hurry.

"Keith, wait!" Thace said as Keith started backing up. "Don't-"

Keith ignored him. He got a running start and jumped into the ring. He landed lightly, a lot lighter than he should have, and ran over to Shiro. "Shiro?" He whispered, already gathering Pidge's small body into his arms. Pidge's blood stained his chest. 

"I hurt Pidge." Shiro whispered, looking at Pidge's small form in horror. "I swear it was an accident-"

Keith looked at him. "Come on, we have to go."

"Pidge switched places with Matt. That's why Pidge is bleeding out and Matt is God knows where." Shiro looked at Keith with wide eyes. "Dammit. _Holts_."

A little part of Keith broke and he started to laugh. "I- I'm sorry." He laughed through budding tears. "We- we gotta go."

Getting back up again was a blur, but he remembered handing Pidge to Thace, and Shiro standing there silently and Keith couldn't shake the feeling he wasn't going to win any Shiro-points by doing that. 

"I'll get Pidge to the castle."

"Hurry." Keith looked at Pidge. "Stay alive." He whispered.

\---

"Hunk?" Allura said through his comm. "Come in! We need to hurry! Have you found Shiro or information on the others?"

"I found Lance!"

" _Lance_?"

"Your comm works?" Lance asked, eyes wide. He turned on his own comm. "Keith? Keith! I'm still getting static."

"I'll try." Hunk said, but when he tried to contact Keith, all he got was buzz. "Weird..."

"Come on, we have to find them quick. The castle probably can't take much more."

"Hunk! Wait I need to tell you something!" Allura said. "A Galra came up to the castle and said he wanted to help. He said his name was Thace."

"Thace?" Hunk looked at Lance. He scowled. "Thace."

"Who's Thace?" Hunk demanded.

"Morally grey." Lance muttered. "And a pain in my butt."

\---

Thace had gone on ahead to get Pidge to the castle, and Keith was trying to get Shiro to talk to him. 

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

Shiro looked at him and shrugged. "They... the Galra have Matt." 

"We can save him later." Keith promised. "But we have to go-"

"This could be my only chance to save Matt! Think about it, once they realize they have him and we have no idea where, they're going to hurt him. Maybe kill him."

"But if they get you they won't waste time with theatrics!" Keith snapped. "They'll  _definitely_ kill you!"

It was then Keith realized he was crying. Shiro straightened up and hugged him, rubbing his back. "It's gonna be okay, kiddo."

"You can't just call me kiddo like when I was thirteen and pretend everything's going to be _okay_!" Keith choked, pulling away.

"Keith, if I don't make it out of here..."

 _Shut up_ , Keith begged.  _Just shut up._

"I want you to lead Voltron."

"Please don't leave me again." Keith begged. "Please just come with us."

"I won't abandon Matt!"

"I won't abandon you!" Keith's eyes burned and Shiro took a step back, eyes wide, arm raised.

It was in that moment Keith knew he screwed up.

\---

Lance and Hunk ran to the castle in time to catch Thace walking out the door, covered in blood.

Lance growled and blocked his path. "The hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Helping." Thace said evenly. 

"Who's blood is that?" He demanded.

"The small one's."

"Pidge?" Lance's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Pidge is  _here_? You said-"

"I know what I said! There's been a mix up."

"Where's Shiro?"

"Keith is with him." 

"Wait, where's  _Keith._ Dear God, are they  _still in the ship?_ " Lance yelped. "Alone? Why would you leave them-"

"Because Pidge's life was in danger!"

"What did you do to Pidge!"

"It wasn't me!" Thace growled, fangs flashing white in the darkness. "Now I think you should let me go retrieve my godson."

Lance stepped aside bitterly, and let Thace walk by. Then, after Thace was a ways away, he followed.

\---

"Who. Are. You." Shiro growled. "What have you done to Keith?"

"I am Keith." He whispered. "I swear to God, Shiro, it's me."

"What did you do to Keith!" Shiro yelled, arm glowing. Keith took a step back. "It's  _me_."

"No. Your eyes flashed  _yellow_. You're a  _Galra._ "

"Well... you're not wrong." Keith gave a tearful smile and took off his helmet, and Shiro stared at his ears. 

"I'm half Galra." Keith whispered. "The Galra we were with earlier is the Galran version of my godfather. My legal guardian or whatever. I don't understand what's happening to me, whatsoever."

Shiro looked at him with a harsh glare and slammed his fist into the wall. Suddenly, a door closed in front of Keith's face, cutting him off from Shiro.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled, pounding on the door. "Are you there? Shiro!"

"Keith." Someone touched his shoulder. Thace. Keith looked up at him with wide eyes. Thace's own yellow eyes regarded him sadly. "Come on."

"No, Shiro's in there, and he'll get himself killed!" Keith pressed his hand against the door, and from underneath the door there was a flash of white light. Panic gripped him. "Shiro!"

The door opened, and Keith ran forward, but all there was was a set of stairs leading downwards. Shiro must have gone down there. 

Suddenly, Thace grabbed him, wrapping both arms around him and dragging him away.

"Shiro!" Keith shrieked. "Let go of me Thace! Shiro! No! Don't leave me! Don't leave me again!"

"We have to go, right now."

"If they catch him, they'll kill him!" Keith let out a choked sob.

"If you go after him, they'll kill you too!" 

"Let me go-"

"Everyone will get killed if you don't come right now!" Thace growled in Keith's ear and continued to drag him away.

"No please please I can't loose him again not again please please not again I can't loose him again he's the only family I have!" Keith hit his fists against Thace's arms, and kicked his shins, but Thace continued to carry him and he went limp, and allowed himself to be carried like a rag doll. 

Keith continued to scream until his voice gave out and he just coughed out faint curses at Thace, eyes burning in the way he knew meant they were yellow and in the way that mean cold tears were streaming down his face.

\---

Allura wasn't worried about Shiro and Keith until the Galra- Thace -that had brought in Pidge was back, literally dragging a sobbing Keith into the castle. She gasped, her hand going up to her heart. 

"Dear Altea." She whispered, running down. "What happened?"

Keith looked up at her with tear filled  _yellow_ eyes, black ears pressed against his head. "Shiro went after Matt."

"He'll be fine." Thace told Keith. 

"They're going to kill him. Both of them." Keith laughed bitterly, and Allura saw a flash of sharp fangs. She took a step back. The boy looked at her indifferently. "Shiro acted the same way. But this is me." 

"Oh my God." Hunk muttered from off to the side. "You're actually-"

Lance came in, shutting the door behind him. Thace glared at him, and Allura got the impression Lance had followed him. "Perimeter clear." Lance said. "We should go. Like, now."

"I'll get a wormhole up." Allura said, walking away.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lance go to kneel beside where Keith had curled up in the corner.

\---

"He said he wanted me to lead Voltron." Keith whispered to Lance. "Well... before he realized what I was. I don't want to be a leader."

"It's okay. No one is going to make you."

"I hope Matt's okay. For his sake."

_I hope Shiro's okay. For your sake._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr continues to be witchlightsands i give spoilers and as my good friend theslytherinmudblood says "Honestly your spoilers are the best and worst at the same time bc it's just. Dialogue. Out of context."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Whelp that didn't last long._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and i make cool stuff

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter VIII**

* * *

Keith lost it when he saw Hunk. 

"What are you doing here?" He yelped, breathing heavily. "Wait, you were on the ship with Shiro and Pidge, obviously. How did you escape?"

"I didn't. I never got captured by the Galra. One of them- it may have actually been Thace now that I think about it -knocked me out and Anlee and Allay saved me."

Keith went quiet. "Thace." He said, blinking slowly. 

"Yah?"

"Thace!" Keith yelled and stood up, storming off to find him, Hunk calling after him. 

Thace was at the computers, gently guiding the ship. "Oh, hello, Keith-"

"Why the hell did you tell me and Lance that Hunk got  _captured_ when really it was  _you_ -"

Thace cursed. "I knew I couldn't hide that from you forever."

"You did that on purpose! And you  _lied_!" Keith hissed. "What else did you lie about!"

"Nothing." Thace said calmly.

"Are you really my godfather, or did you lie about that too! Are you actually my father?"

Thace blinked, then laughed. "Dear stars, no. No, we share no blood relation."

"Then who  _was_ my father!" Keith growled. "You won't tell me anything, or when you do you  _lie_."

"Keith-"

"Was it Zarkon?" Keith asked.

"You're in hysterics, calm down-"

" _Is he_ -"

"No." Thace snapped. "Ardaline. His name was Ardaline. Zarkon is the one who killed him."

Keith paused. "Ardaline." He repeated. The word tasted foreign in his mouth. Harsh. Unfamiliar.

"Yes."

Keith shut his eyes and pointed to the door. "Out. If I see you here again I can't take responsibility for my reaction."

When he opened his eyes, Thace was gone.

\---

Breakfast the next day was an awkward affair.

Keith could feel Pidge's cold glare on him, Hunk's desperate attempts to break through the dead silence with a topic that wasn't the obvious one, Lance's desperate attempts to play along with Hunk's plan, the glaring absence of Shiro, the chill that entered the room when Coran excused himself to be  _not here_ , and Allura's unreadable silence. His ear twitched, and he looked at his food.

"Looks great. I'll have to tell Coran." He muttered, poking at the green goop.

"Can you even eat that now that you're Galra?" Pidge blurted.

"Pidge!" Allura said, scandalized. 

"What? Just wondering!"

"In case you were wondering if I wanted some _blood of the innocent_ for breakfast, that's a no." Keith snapped. 

"Hey, no one said that-" Hunk leapt to Pidge's and Keith's defense, trying to end the argument.

"Well then what were you implying-" 

"Can everyone just shut up!" Lance yelled, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. "Tensions are high, but arguing with each other won't solve anything!"

Pidge scowled. "Fine."

Hunk held up his hand. "Okay, but, like, we don't understand what's happening with him. Maybe-"

"Maybe what?" Keith said in a dangerous whisper. His eyes flashed yellow and there was a collective inhalation of breath. "I don't understand this either! Ow!" He grabbed his mouth and spat out blood. "Cut myself."

"What?"

"Fangs. I keep cutting my tongue." Keith sat down, humiliated. 

Suddenly, Allura laughed. "I- I'm sorry. It's just hard to be wary of someone who just  _cut their tongue_."

Keith flicked one of his ears like he was shooing a fly. "I'm pretty sure that was an insult."

Coran popped his head in. "What's all the commotion?"

\---

"So you just told Thace to leave?" Lance asked.

"Yah." Keith hugged his knees to his chest. 

They were sitting in the Blue Lion's bay, on top of Blue's snout. Lance's legs were hanging off the side and he was kicking slightly. Blue didn't seem to mind.

"And he  _listened?_ "

"It wasn't so much he listened, I don't think. I think it was more of a 'I can  _choose_ whether I listen or not.'" Keith shrugged. "I just... I've had enough lies."

"How're you holding up?" Lance asked, looking at him. "Guess Thace wasn't that much of a father figure anyway, huh?"

Keith snorted. "Hardly."

"So no great loss on that front." Lance shrugged and kicked his feet back and forth. "And hey, for the record, he was a sucky person anyway."

Keith laughed. Lance looked at him and smiled at him. "I know we didn't really talk much, or at all, before all this crap. But if it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it."

Keith felt his heart speed up and his eyes, just for a moment, flashed bright yellow.

\---

When he finally collected himself, Shiro's first thought was Allura.

She was going to be so sad when he didn't come back with the others. She was going to be upset they couldn't form Voltron anymore. Shiro winced- she didn't deserve that. Maybe if he admitted it to himself, he loved her. He hated to think he could be the cause of her pain. 

His next thought was Matt. Matt was going to kill him if Pidge died. Matt might already be dead. He needed to save Matt. He had to hate Shiro- God, was his leg okay? And if he was honest with himself, he loved him. Matt needed to be okay.

His next thought was Keith, and he winced. God, he was an idiot. Keith was just a kid. His kid, practically. And maybe abandoning him wasn't cool. Especially when he looked like he was three seconds away from a complete breakdown. Dammit he was an idiot.

He needed to save Matt and get back so he could apologize.

According to the information he'd found on the Galra ship, Matt was on a moon a few galaxies over. And there was a ship on the way there right then.

Which is where Shiro was. Hiding in the cargo hold.

"Hey!"

Whelp that didn't last long.

\---

The first person (aside from Lance) to reach out to Keith, was surprisingly enough Coran. On the third day (the third day since being revealed to the team, the third day since that disaster, the third day since he'd lost the person who was practically his brother) Keith had been in the training room, and hacking away at a training bot. In his mind, Thace's voice instructed him and it just made him more upset as he swung at the bot.

"Careful." Coran said from the doorway. "That's ancient Altean tech. I don't think I could fix it if you broke it."

Keith looked down and flattened his ears. "Sorry." 

"Ah, don't look so down." Coran said brightly. "It's a lovely day."

"We're in space, Coran." Keith snorted. 

Coran smiled sadly at him and Keith felt like a deer in the headlights. "You know, Keith... no one blames you for being half Galra."

"I'm part of the empire that destroyed your planet." Keith whispered. "And tortured Shiro, and captured Pidge's brother, enslaved Shay's people and-"

"You did absolutely none of that." Coran said finally. "Good Galra _do_ exist. Thace seemed to be a good Galra."

Keith snarled. "He's a liar, and until he can stop doing that and give me a straight answer, he's not a good guy."

"I see." Coran amended. "Well, you're a good Galra!"

Keith managed to hold back his snort. 

"Really, Keith. Everyone's just a little stunned right now."

"I don't understand what's happening, and Thace doesn't explain  _anything_ , and Shiro practically rejected me and I just..." Keith leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling like he was going to fall over. "My entire life just got rearranged and I... I don't want it to. This is scary. I'm just a  _kid_ I don't know what I'm doing or how to handle this."

"You've got the support of the entire team. And, for what it's worth, Shiro would never reject you for being a Galra."

_You didn't see his face. You didn't see his face._

_\---_

Keith talked to Lance a lot these days. 

"I hate myself." He admitted one night as they sat on top of Red's head. 

"I hate myself too." Lance said right back.

Keith looked at him. "I don't hate you."

Lance looked at him and smiled softly. "I don't hate you either."

\---

"Who the hell are you?" The frail human named Matt Holt snapped, backing up, fists up. 

Thace sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't get paid enough for this. Come on, your Shiro is in trouble."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case no one's figured it out/been told yet, Keith's eyes flash when he's experiencing any extreme emotion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Hell yah I'm saving Shiro."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is late as hell but um its not my fault i think i got sucked into watching lok and also we all knew i wasnt going to be able to keep an update schedule for long im amazed it lasted as long as it did. now back to your regularly scheduled pain
> 
> un beta-ed, un proof-read, un checked, un edited, short as hell, and un on time, just the way i like em. its 11 ok let me live

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter IX**

* * *

"The hell are you?" Matt yelled at the Galra. "The hell is this! What the hell! What the actual hell! The hell!"

"Are you done?" 

"What the actual hell?" Matt whispered.

"You're very eloquent." The Galra held out his hand. "My name is Thace."

"Like hell I'm trusting you!" Matt spat, backing up until he hit a wall.

Thace looked like a public school teacher that hadn't had his coffee yet teaching a morning class of freshmen. "Do you want to save your Shiro or not."

"Hell yah I'm saving Shiro."

\---

Lance wasn't sure how it started, but nightly meetings with Keith became a thing. Sometimes they met on Blue, sometimes Red. Sometimes they didn't even talk, they just sat there.

But tonight was a talking night. 

"I just..." Lance waved his hands around. "Feel like I can't do anything. Shiro's the leader, Allura pilots the entire  _ship_ , Pidge is a genius with tech, Hunk is the best engineer ever, Coran knows the interworkings of this ship like the back of his hand, and you... you're the strongest person I've had the fortune to meet. Not even just in physical strength, but I mean anyone who can learn they're half Galra and is still functioning has got to be made of some tougher stuff. What can I do? I'm just a kid from Cuba."

"You're the most accepting person I've ever met." Keith said. "I mean, I grew  _fangs._ And  _ears_. And you didn't run away screaming once. And if I'm honest, I think you're the reason we're still together as a team. You're the glue."

"I always wanted to be glue." Lance said, smiling slightly. "Thanks."

Keith looked at him and for a second his eyes flashed yellow. He looked away, scowling. "Sorry."

"Any idea why they do that?"

"A few theories, but nothing solid." Keith admitted. He stood up. "It's getting late. You know Allura is going to kill us tomorrow if we sleep in."

Lance laughed. "You have a point." He held out his hand and Keith helped him up. "Night."

"Night."

\---

"Holy-" Matt let out a long stream of curse words in every language he knew. "Thaaaace!"

"Hold the ship steady!" The Galra yelled back. 

Maybe their rescue mission hadn't gone exactly as planned. They'd saved Shiro, but not without some serious injuries for all of them. Now they were getting chased by a giant warship (hell no), with an injured Shiro getting impromptu surgery in the back ( _hell no_ ), and since the only person on their ship who had any medical expertise was a strange Galra Matt had met about an hour or two ago, he had to pilot the alien spacecraft. (HELL. NO.)

"A bit of his armor lodged in his abdomen." Thace called. "It needs to be extracted, so the ship needs to be  _steady_."

"SCREW YOU I'M TRYING MY BEST!" Matt made a wild dodge to avoid a large laser from the pursuing ship. 

"Hold the ship steady!"

"There is a goddamn warship on our tail and I am not a pilot!" Matt looked at the array of shiny buttons in front of him. "Which button makes that wormhole thing?"

"I told you, not yet! If we enter a wormhole while Shiro's in this condition, it could kill him, and that ship is close enough to follow us. Besides, we don't even know where we're going!"

"Aaaah," Matt yelped and made another wild dive to avoid the lasers, pushing a button that was obviously a radio. "Hello hello! Help! Mayday mayday! Thace. what's the universal word for- GODDAMMIT GALRA!" Matt dived and swore in vivid Latin. "Help us please!"

"Who's there?"

Matt could have cried. 

\---

Allura was standing watch over the ship and gently steering it when Allay and Anlee came to see her. 

"Oh, hello." Allura put the ship on autopilot and leaned down to them. "What brings you here so late?"

"Eleyians are active both night and day, with resting in between." Allay poked the wall of the ship. "This place is so... shiny."

"It is that." Allura agreed. 

"We just wanted to thank you." Anlee explained. "For all that you're doing. For us, for the universe, and everything."

Allura smiled back. "Thank you for standing with us. It's going to be a long, hard fight, but together-"

"Hello hello?" The radio crackled out. "Help! Mayday! Thace what's the universal word for- GODDAMMIT GALRA!" There was a string of strange words said in a vicious tone. "Help us please!"

"Who's there?" Allay called, hand going to her knife. 

"Oh, thank God thank God praise him." The person babbled. "My name is Matthew Holt."

Allura gasped. "Go get Pidge." She told the mice at her feet. They scampered off. "Matt, are you okay?"

"A few burns and a few near HEARTATTACKS!" He shrieked. "I don't know how to fly this thing, and the person who  _does_ is trying to perform surgery on Shiro!"

"Shiro? He's alive? He's with you? Is he going to make it?"

"I don't know." Matt admitted. "My piloting skills are very shaky. I'm trying."

"I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea." Allura said quickly. 

"Shiro mentioned you." Matt said, and it sounded like he laughed a little. "He's very fond of you."

"Aaaw." Allay cooed from behind. Anlee shushed her. "Where are you?"

"Space? Thace, can you give me coordinates?"

"Thace?" Allura asked. "What is he doing with you?"

"He saved me and helped me rescue Shiro. And our coordinates are 153, 88, 190 on a galactic level, 3, 7, 60 on system."

Allay plugged in the numbers. "You're in the Pugnāmus system!" She said. "That's not far from here!"

"Matt, hold on." Allura said, already making a move to sound the alarm to wake the paladins. "We're on the way!"

There was a sound like Galran lasers, a screaming Matt, and the radio crackled. "Crashing crashing we're crashing!"

"Hold on!" 

"Aaaah-" The comm cut off and Allura slammed her fist on the dash. "Wake up the others!"

\---

"Hey." Keith muttered to the lion. "Couldn't sleep."

Black was inanimate, but he could swear she was looking at him. It wasn't a good look. It was judgmental. Cold.

"Come on." Keith snapped. "Shiro wanted me to lead. Let me in!"

She was unresponsive. 

"Come  _on_! I'm  _trying_ at least! I didn't want this! I don't want to do this! I want my brother back!" Keith's voice cracked. "I am not a leader. I don't want to lead. Don't make me lead."

Black didn't move at all, but her cold refusal to acknowledge him seemed like a definite  _then don't_ and a dismissal. 

Keith pounded on her muzzle. "Hey! Let me in! Shiro wanted me to lead the team, so I'm going to try my damn hardest!"

 _You are not my paladin_. She seemed to say.  _Leave._

"Fine!" Keith screamed, and realized hot tears were streaming down his face. "You're a dumb lion anyways! Red has always worked for me! I'm just not cut out to be leader material, alright?"

There was a sharp ringing sound that meant Allura wanted them in their lions. Keith scowled and stormed off. "Screw you."

\---

"Paladins, we're headed to the planet of Amat." Coran's face was broad casted into their lions. Lance smirked. "That's Latin, you know."

"Latin?" Coran asked, confused. 

"Latin?" Pidge deadpanned. "Lance, that language died  _centuries_ ago."

"Amat can be translated to he loves, he does love, or he is loving." Lance said conversationally. "And isn't this the Pugnāmus system? That can be we fight, we do fight, or we are fighting." 

"Lance, focus!" Allura snapped. "Matt crashed somewhere on this planet, with Shiro and Thace."

"Guys." Keith whispered. "I think we're not the only ones here to find them."

Galra drones swarmed over the surface of the brown planet. They focused on the lions, and Hunk yelled, "SCATTER!"

Lance dived down to see a large Galra complex, and spotted what could have been a tuft of white hair as a Galra entered, shoving something in front of him. Lance blinked, and opened up a private comm link with Keith. "Hey, I think I saw Shiro."

"Where?" He demanded, lasers flashing in the background. 

"Galra base. I'm sending you my location." Lance pushed a few buttons and avoided several lasers and crushed Galra sentries under his lion's paws. "But I could have imagined it-"

"I trust you. I'm on the way. Lance, this is all we have."

"You're right." Lance flicked a few switches. "I'm landing in one of the cages nearby."

\---

"There were already Galra here." Matt muttered to Shiro. "Lucky us."

"Quiet!" The Galra commanded. 

"I can't believe Thace bolted on us." Shiro winced, gripping his only partially cleaned wound. 

"I said quiet!"

"Screw you." Matt muttered. "I talked to Allura."

"If we make it out of this," Shiro whispered, "can we set up boundaries and rules for me dating both of you?"

"Of course." Matt whispered, feeling tears at his eyes. " _When_ we get out of here."

"I love you." Shiro whispered, stumbling and falling, hand stained red.

"I love you too." Matt whispered and turned to attack the Galra soldiers. 

\---

Keith and Lance snuck through the Galra compound, on the alert. "This way." Keith whispered. 

"Halt!"

Caught. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands but atm its just me celebrating the death of shiro/paladin and a texas redemption arc so go check that out if you want and shoot me a message i dont bite


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands t a l k t o m e
> 
> the q slur gets used once in this chapter (in a positive way) just wanted to let you know if that may bug you

**Part One: Hurricane**

**Chapter X**

* * *

"Run!" Lance yelled, grabbing Keith's hand and they ran away from the Galran soldiers after them, Lance turning to fire every once in a while. "We're going to die." Lance muttered. 

"Think positive!" Keith yelped as they avoided lasers. 

"I'm queer! I'm a death magnet!" Lance snapped. 

"So am I!" 

Lance looked at him, his expression softened slightly, and he muttered, "We'll be fine."

They ducked into a small passage to the left, and Keith kicked open what looked like a vent. "Alright, this way." He panted, kneeling down. It looked more like a trash chute now that he looked at it. Not a tunnel, but a slide. 

The roof shook and several sentries started running at them, firing threateningly. "Go." Lance demanded. 

"The hell-" Keith started as Lance activated his bayard. "I'm right behind you, promise. Go!"

Keith closed his eyes and jumped in. 

Three seconds later, he heard Lance yelp in pain and thought,  _I have made a terrible mistake._

"Lance!" Keith yelled and tried to go back up, but just made his hand slide against metal. He couldn't fight gravity, no matter how much he wanted to in that moment. 

Keith didn't land in the trash, but in another part of the compound, tumbling in an ungraceful mess from the ceiling to the ground. Groaning, he sat up, taking off his helmet to rub the back of his head. 

A cell. Lovely. 

Keith growled and stood up, and hacked at the bars with his bayard. They split apart like twigs and he stepped out.  _That tunnel thing must be for getting food to prisoners._ He thought and looked side to side.  _Speaking of, where are they?_

"Hey! You!"

Keith did the dumb thing and turned around. A Galra commander with large fluffy ears stalked towards him. "You-" His eyes widened and he stopped. "No. This can't be. You're a _paladin_."

Self consciously, Keith touched his ears. "Trust me, I don't like this either." He said honestly, and bolted off, slamming his helmet back on as he did.

"Wait!" The commander cried but made no move to stop him. Keith elected to ignore him. 

He didn't run into any other trouble, thank God. Or maybe that was a bad thing, since it meant he didn't find Shiro, Matt, or Thace. 

Thinking back on that, he could do without Thace. 

"Hello?" A small voice called out. A very  _familiar_ small voice. "God, I just wanted to look at space rocks."

"Matt!" Keith yelled, utter relief overwhelming him. "Matt I'm over here!" 

Keith ran towards where he'd heard the voice. Matt's small frame was trying to hold up Shiro, and the scene was almost comical, if Shiro hadn't been unconscious and bleeding. Matt looked at Keith with wide, tired eyes. "Keith?"

"Shiro." Keith ran to him and helped Matt lower him down onto the ground gently. "Is he..."

"He's fine." Matt said, unfocused. "Or, he will be. I didn't go through all this to loose him now."

"Allura is on the way." Keith promised. 

"He loves her." Matt smiled. 

"And he loves you too." Keith almost started crying. "And I know you both love him." He took off his helmet. "There's a GPS tracker in here that Allura and Coran can track- it's how they'll find you. Press this button to activate the comm link."

"Keith. What-"

Keith stood up. "Keep my brother safe for me." He whispered. "I need to go."

"Wait!" Matt grabbed his hand before he could run. "Where are you going?"

"I have to save Lance!" Keith jerked his hand away and ran off. 

-

"Lance!" Keith cried out, looking for him. "Lance!"

Keith turned the corner and saw a broken Galra sentry. "Alright then, this way." He muttered. 

A few aimless turns later, he froze and sniffed the air. It smelled like iron or copper or salt or...

He looked down. Blood. A splatter of it was on the ground, leaving a sort of red trail. 

It sort of smelled like the ocean. 

Lance. 

Keith growled and ran to find him. The blood trail ended at a door. Keith activated his bayard and sliced it open. 

Inside were several Galra soldiers, and a small escape pod. Keith was confused, but attacked anyway. 

He struck at the first one with a fire and a flurry of attacks, all of which were blocked easily. Keith kicked his shin and he fell. 

The next three ganged up on him and Keith had his bayard yanked away. Desperately, he clawed and bit at them, even as they dragged him towards the pod. His mouth was filled with blood as he yelled. 

"Just kill him now. Kill them both." One deadpanned. 

"No." Said another. Keith recognized him as the Galra from the hall, before he found Matt and Shiro. "Just load them in and shoot them off into space."

"You'll never win!" Keith screamed valiantly as they shoved him into the escape pod. It was much smaller than the one he, Hunk, and Lance had used to get to the Eleyians. 

Lance. 

He was there, eyes closed and groaning softly. As the pod started to rumble, Keith shook Lance's shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up please!"

The pod shot off and Keith fell fowards. There was a rumbling and a shaking, and it almost felt like they were going through a wormhole. 

"Lance wake up!" Keith begged. 

"At least Shiro and Matt got out." He said softly. "But why do you have to die with me?"

The pod shook more and there was an impact, and it sprang open, revealing inky black depths. Cold water rushed around them and filled Keith's nose and mouth. 

He kicked and tried to hold onto Lance, but he slipped away. There was no surface in sight. What was up? What was down? He couldnt see. He couldn't breathe. He was sinking.

_So this is how I die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus ends part one
> 
> I wrote everything after the "i have to save lance" on my phone are you proud of me


	11. Chapter 11

**Part Two: Shadows and Smoke**

**Chapter I**

* * *

Water.

Ocean.

Darkness.

Lance was surrounded in it, cold, and the familiar pressure on him. The ocean was cold. Water was wet.

He tried to breathe it in and then remembered.

Water also meant no air.

Spluttering, he hit the surface, and looked around desperately. "Keith?" He choked out. "Keith!"

Shaking his hair out of his face, he dove back under the water and tried not to enjoy it so much. The water was dark, but not murky, so he could see, but it was like he was in a dark room.

Thankfully, red stood out in water.

Lance wanted to call out again, but Keith wouldn't hear him, and he needed his air. Fumbling for the handle sort of thing on Keith's armor, he pulled them towards the surface. 

Lance spluttered and gasped in air. Crap. What was happening. What was going on. Where were they.

Land. Over there. Lance huffed and slung Keith's limp body onto his back, careful to keep his nose and mouth above the water. He swam towards it, then realized with horror it wasn't very close.

"Help?" Lance called out hopefully. "God, please-"

A wave cut him short, getting salt in his mouth. Lance coughed and looked back. There, a much  _closer_ island that wouldn't take him four hours to get to. 

It took roughly ten minutes, at the end of which Lance's muscles were sore, and Keith still hadn't woken up. He flopped onto the beach, panting, then rolled over to drag Keith further up, away from the water, which now that he looked at it was a strange blue, almost  _too_ blue. 

Keith. Keith was the priority.

"Come on, mullet!" Lance said, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up!"

 _How does CPR go again?_ Lance breathed out slowly, and kneeled next to Keith's shoulders, putting his hands on his chest.  _Compressions to the beat of Stayin' Alive, right? Crap, when was the last time I took this class?_

"Here goes nothin'." Lance muttered and started pressing. Thirty one compressions later, Keith started coughing. "Oh, thank God!" Lance yelped, giving him some space. "Are you alright?"

Keith continued to spit out water. "What the hell? Where are we?"

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me! The last thing I remember is some Galra hitting me in the head, and then I woke up surrounded by water!" Lance gestured to his wet hair, which really wasn't much compared to Keith's coughing.

"They got me too. Shoved us in some kind of pod and shot us out here." Keith's ears tentatively started to poke up, shaking water as they twitched. "Ack. Everything sounds... watered down, or muffled. I kinda liked having enhanced senses. They were the only part of this that didn't _completely_ suck."

"You alright?"

"I'll be fine. Maybe it just needs some time to dry out." Keith wrinkled his nose and glanced around. "Let's try to come up with something. Maybe we can find some locals?"

"I don't think there are going to be any." Lance whispered.

"Why not?" Keith turned around. Lance grabbed his hand to point with. "That's why."

A hulking rock lay in the middle of the island, except it wasn't a rock. It was a mountain, a great big, black mountain, billowing smoke.

_We're both going to die here._

\---

"Keith?" Allura yelled as she ran down the hallways. 

"Hey!" A voice yelled. She recognized it as a less static filled form of Pidge's brother.

She ran to the voice, and saw a man who looked very similar to Pidge, and Shiro, leaning against him. Matt had Keith's helmet in his grip.

"Where's Keith?" Allura asked and she leaned down to help Matt hoist Shiro up. "What happened to Shiro?"

"Got hurt. Galra." Matt panted. "I mean, that's what happened to Shiro. Keith went after some guy named Lance."

"Lance? Lance got captured?" 

"I guess so." Matt shrugged. "Thank goodness you're here though. I couldn't carry him all by myself, and honestly, I never want to be a pilot again."

"You seemed spectacularly bad at it." Allura agreed. 

"Thanks, Princess." Matt rolled his eyes. "Let's just get our boyfriend to safety, shall we?"

Allura nodded. "Let's."

\---

Lance was pacing back and forth with his head in his hands. "That's a volcano. That's a damn volcano."

"Lance, calm down?" Keith said, but it sounded more like a request. "We... we need to come up with a plan."

"A plan. Yah. Got anything?"

"Me? You're the plan guy! You're the one who always has a solution! So what do we do?"

He was silent. Keith said again, desperately. "Lance?"

"Start praying." He whispered, looking at the smoke coming out of the volcano.

Keith didn't have the heart to mention that he wasn't exactly the praying type. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up a month late with starbucks and an update* so... *finger guns* part two, am i right?
> 
> sorry its short?? eh i threw in some shalluratt fluff and there will be much more of that to come. also angst and pain tho. so stay tuned!!
> 
> also follow my tumblr witchlightsands


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey btw its my birthday tomorrow go follow my tumblr witchlightsands

**Part Two: Shadows and Smoke**

**Chapter II**

* * *

"Shiro? Shiro, please, wake up, the team is worried."

Shiro blinked open his eyes. "Allura?"

"Oh, you're awake." She breathed. "Thank the stars."

"Where-" He started to sit up, and a pain shot up his arm. 

"You're in the castle. Coran is getting a healing pod set up."

"Allura, Keith is part Galra." He blurted. 

"I know." She whispered.

"I, I have to say sorry. I left him, I shouldn't have left my little brother-"

"Shiro... Keith isn't here."

"What?" 

"He went to save Lance, and neither of them are back."

Shiro froze. "Oh."

"We'll find them." She held his hand, and looked at him softly. "Promise."

"Thank you." Shiro smiled, and kissed her hand. 

\---

Night fell, and neither Keith or Lance had an idea of how to get out. They'd tried to springboard ideas, but they had nothing. As the small pricks of stars came out, Lance pulled his knees up to his chest. "Maybe it won't blow and we'll just grow old and die here."

"That would stink." Keith sighed. He shivered. "It's cold."

"Well, maybe the volcano will blow, and we'll be toasty warm." Lance smiled bitterly. "Sorry. Not helping."

Keith huffed, either as half a laugh or half a sigh. "Not really."

"If you really want, we can build a fire, or something."

"Do you know how to build a fire?"

"No." He admitted. "I'm cold too. Just huddle with me."

"What?"

"Huddle for warmth. Come on, I don't want to freeze."

"Alright." Keith sighed.

They fell asleep together on the beach.

\---

Hunk knocked on the door to Pidge's room. "You in there?"

"What is it?" Pidge called, not moving from the bed. 

"Oh, just someone I thought you'd like to see." Hunk said, grinning. A bit in the hallway, Matt grinned. 

Pidge sighed and Hunk heard the sound of a laptop snapping shut. "I'm coming."

Pidge stepped out, arms crossed. "What do you want?"

"Hunk didn't want anything." Matt stepped forward and opened up his arms. "Miss me?"

" _Matt_!" Pidge cried out, leaping into his arms. "Yes! Yes I missed you so much."

"Sh, sh." Matt whispered as Pidge choked out a sob. "We're gonna find dad."

"Okay."

\---

There was a rumbling noise and Lance shot awake. "What was that?" He hissed.

Keith shook his head to get the sand out of his hair. "Oh no." He whispered.

The volcano was shaking.

"I thought we had more time!" Lance yelled, scrambling to get up. "We didn't even get to the heartfelt confessions of lifelong dreams!"

 "Maybe if we just stay by the beach-" Keith started. "The lava can't possibly get that far, right?"

"It's not the fire that kills you." Lance whispered, pointing to the sky, to the dark cloud descending from the sky like an omen of death. "It's the smoke."

Keith breathed in, and tasted the smoke on his tongue. He coughed. 

"Wet cloth." Lance coughed. "You're supposed to hold wet cloth over your mouth and nose to filter the smoke."

"Does it look like we have wet cloth?" Keith asked helplessly. His ears flattened against his head and he felt a sting in his eyes when he looked at Lance. A whole combination of feelings, sharply banging in his chest. "We're both going to die here."

The smoke was on fast, and it was hard to see. Lance grabbed onto Keith's hand and they kneeled down low together, pressing their foreheads together, practically sharing whatever air there was left.

"Look." Lance tried to smile. "The ashes are a little like rain." Lance coughed. " _Alea iacta est_. The die is cast."

"What happens happens." Keith mumbled, and coughed.

Lance shut his eyes and held Keith's hand tighter. He couldn't breathe. His lungs hurt. 

There was a faint sound in the distance, almost like a _whir_ , but then Keith coughed and Lance felt his weight fall on top of him. Passed out from lack of air. 

Lance opened his eyes to see and get Keith into a better position, eyes stinging with smoke and ash. Out of the darkness, there was a pair of bright yellow eyes.

Lance couldn't summon the energy to fight off the black on the edges of his vision, and he collapsed too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shrugs*


	13. Chapter 13

**Part 2: Shadow and Smoke**

**Chapter III**

* * *

Keith woke up wearing a mask. It was a plastic thing that went over his mouth and nose, and felt heavy.

Where was he?

He shoved it off and screamed out, "Help-!"

A clawed hand clamped over his mouth. "Hush." Thace said. "You inhaled a lot of smoke. If you scream, you'll damage your lungs. Humans. Such fragile things."

Keith nodded, cautious. Thace took his hand away. "We're on my  _new_ ship, since the old one got very broken. I've already contacted Allura. We're on the way to a planet with absolutely no Galra interference or troops. Lance is in the room over. You should both be healed by the time we get there, which will only take half of your earth 'hours'. Get some rest."

Keith grabbed his arm before he left.  _Thanks_. He mouthed.

Thace seemed to get the message, and smiled.

\---

Allura held Shiro's hand as the Galra ship descended. "It's either Thace, or he tricked us."

"Or both." Shiro noted. 

"Not helping." Allura hissed as it set down. The team was on the planet where Pidge and Shiro had found the Green Lion. Pidge and Matt were surveying the area from the Lion, while Hunk and the two Eleyians scouted the ground. At least if anything went wrong, the team was scattered so the Galra couldn't find them easily.

The door to the ship opened, and Thace walked out. Allura's grip on Shiro's hand tightened. "So?"

"Like I said, they got trapped on a volcanic island and breathed in a lot of ash. Thankfully, I was there."

Lance walked out first, giving Allura a two finger salute. "Hey." He grinned. "Guess who's not dead."

Allura could finally breathe again. "You made it!"

"Yah, barely."

"Keith?" Shiro asked.

"Here." He jumped off the ship, rubbing the back of his head. His eyes flickered between bright yellow and dark purple. His ears twitched. "Shiro, I-"

Shiro ran at him with a hug. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "You're my little brother, practically. I shouldn't have left you."

"I scared you. I know I did. That was... not the way it was supposed to be."

"It's alright. We'll get through it." 

"You're half Galra." Allura said. 

Keith looked up. "Yah. My dad. His name was Ardaline, or something."

Thace tensed, and Allura gasped. "Ardaline isn't a name." She whispered.

Keith's soft smile turned into a snarl, directed at Thace. "You lied to me? Again?"

"No." Thace said. "That's his name."

"Well, technically, but it's not just a name. It's a title."

"What." Keith blinked. Lance stepped towards him and grabbed his hand. Keith looked at him thankfully.

Thace sighed. "In Galra culture, the suffix  _line_ can get roughly translated to 'king in waiting.' It's bestowed to the crown prince, or, the oldest one of the royal bloodline. It can only be given by an established ruler."

"If... if he's my father..." Keith gulped. "How do you know?"

"Your ears. Royal Galra always have black ears." 

Keith folded his down against his skull. "So... you're saying..."

"Stop beating around the bush." Thace snapped. "You are the last remaining being in this universe who has royal Galra blood."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel bad for posting a chapter on hunks bday that has no hunk in it but this chapter was technically supposed to be part of last chapter anyway so????

**Part 2: Shadow and Smoke**

**Chapter IV**

* * *

"What the hell?" Keith demanded in a small voice. "You couldn't tell me sooner? Or at all? I was just now getting the hang of being part Galra!"

"I know. I thought..." Thace sighed, and rubbed his head. "Come on. This way."

Keith allowed Thace to lead him away from the others. "The hell my dude." He muttered.

"I didn't want to freak you out." Thace breathed.

"So am I really related to Zarkon? If I'm royalty-"

"No." Thace snapped. "Zarkon is  _not_ royalty. He stole the throne ten thousand years ago, and the royal family has lived in the shadows ever since. I thought the bloodline was dead until I met Ardaline."

"Then..."

"You're the last person in this universe with royal Galra blood in your veins." Thace nodded. 

"What... what happened to my father?" Keith whispered.

Thace looked down. "Zarkon found him and captured him. He bestowed him the honorific suffix he should been able to have legally his whole life, then he chopped off his head."

Keith gulped. "Oh."

"I'm sorry." Thace looked down. "I-"

"I need a minute." Keith breathed, closing his eyes and pushing his hair out of his face. "So just... if I want to talk to someone, I'll find them myself. Can I just be alone for a little?"

"Of course. I'll tell everyone."

-

There was a knock at Shiro's door. "Hey." Keith said. 

Shiro opened the door immediately and before Keith could say a word, blurted out, "I'm sorry. I left you again. I promised to stop doing that."

"I startled you."

"That's no excuse for how I acted. I abandoned you."

"You were help captive and traumatized by the Galra for a year, so I think I'll forgive my brother for acting a little rashly." Keith smiled and held out his arms. "So we okay?"

Shiro brought him in for a hug. "We're okay. Always."

-

Keith stood outside Lance's door uncertainly, hand raised to knock.

It was getting late.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands love me please


	15. Chapter 15

**Part Two: Shadows and Smoke**

**Chapter V**

* * *

Keith was wandering the halls late one night, looking for Pidge (he wanted to see if he could get some upgrades for Red), when he heard Shiro and Thace talking. He almost made his presence known, but something in the tone of their voices kept him in the shadows. 

Shiro was aggravated, bordering on aggressive. "I can't believe you would even  _consider_ this."

Thace wasn't outright begging, but the pleading note was there. "This is the only way."

"A sixteen year old boy is not an executioner." Shiro snapped, and Keith's blood ran cold. "You can't tell him about it. He doesn't deserve that kind of pressure on him."

"Who?" Keith finally burst out, stomping forward. Shiro's face paled. "Keith, what are you doing up?"

"I asked first. Who are you talking about?"

"You." Thace said simply. "And how you're going to take the throne."

"The... wait." Keith pointed to himself. "What do you mean-"

"He wants you to kill Zarkon." Shiro said.

"It's the only way your claim will be respected by the Galra Empire!" Thace insisted. "Otherwise all you have is an empty title. You need to  _earn_ it."

"But, but I can't-" Keith stammered. "I don't want to  _rule the Galra Empire!"_

"Then who can?" Thace asked.

"I-I don't know! You, maybe! Or-"

"I have nothing to the throne. The only way I could get it is by killing you, which I will not do. My claim would be emptier than your's, and my reign would last less than a week."

"There has to be something." Shiro said.

"What were you expecting? Once Zarkon is defeated, everything is fine? What about the Galra? The civilians, the soldiers who didn't want to fight, the ones who had nothing to do with it? What was supposed to happen to them after the war, once you got rid of their leader?"

"I never thought-" Keith started.

"No, you didn't. I understand it's hard to see the Galra as anything other than a mindless, faceless enemy empire piloted by Zarkon, but their are citizens who just don't know what else to do. They need a good leader."

"Well, it isn't me." Keith huffed. "Shiro's right, I can't do it. And I won't."

"Keith..."

"Goodnight." Keith snapped, and walked off.

-

"Lance. Lance."

Lance groaned and pushed his blanket off of him, going to answer the door. It was Keith. "Hey, buddy."

"I'm a little shaken up, but I don't want to talk about it, can I just sit with you?"

"Sure." Lance said, ushering him in. 

"Thanks." Keith breathed. "Do you have paper?"

"Yeh." Lance got some out and handed it to Keith, who was sitting leaning against the wall. Keith scribbled something out as Lance sat next to him, and casually remarked, "Semper te amabo."

"What?" Keith looked up.

"It's Latin." 

"Dork."

"Nerd."

They sat in silence. Eventually, Keith leaned his head against Lance's shoulder, and Lance leaned his head on Keith's, and they fell asleep.

-

"Are you sure? Wait, really?"

"Like you said, it's the only way."

-

Lance woke up to see Keith shuffling around his room. He'd grabbed his crop jacket, and was brushing his hair while looking for something. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, just an early solo mission." Keith shrugged. "Trying to remember where I put that paper. Never mind, found it."

"Alright. See you soon then." Lance smiled. "Semper te amabo."

"What does that mean?" Keith asked.

"I didn't tell you?" Lance blushed slightly. "It means  _I will always lo_ -"

Keith's ears stood up, and he looked at the watch on his arm. "I have to go. Tell me later."

"Bye."

-

"Hey." Allura said, leaning over Shiro's shoulder to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey." Shiro smiled, and kissed her lips. 

"Have you seen Thace?"

"No, why?"

"Just thought it was strange that he isn't around today."

-

Keith was not going on a solo mission. 

He knocked on the door of the space ship on the desert planet, the pod he'd stolen from the castle parked in the distance. "Thace, open up! I'm here."

The door opened. Keith barged in, slamming his paper onto the nearest table. "I change my mind, I-"

He looked up into a pair of yellow eyes that were not Thace's. He gulped. 

"Hello, little prince." Haggar smiled. 

"What are you-" Keith turned around and saw Thace, lurking in the shadows. "You sold me out!" He accused, feeling like his skin had been scraped raw. He turned back to Haggar with fierce yellow eyes. 

"Now, don't blame him too much. Betraying Zarkon has a life sentence. He bought himself amnesty."

"With my life." Keith whispered.

"With your life." Haggar grinned. "I can't wait to see all your little teammates scrambling to find you-"

"Wait." Keith held up his paper. "Don't tell them you have me."

He handed the paper to Haggar, and locked eyes with Thace. Thace looked away.

"Well." Haggar said. "You're quite the coward, aren't you?"

Keith nodded, bile in his throat. "I told Thace I wanted to take down Zarkon, but I got scared. I wanted to disappear, but I didn't want my friends to worry. So I drafted this. Thace is going to send it to the castle. They'll all think I'm dead. And if you go with that, if you let them think I'm dead, I'll go quietly. No fighting, no arguing, no complaining." Keith's ears flattened. "Does it matter one way or the other how I disappear?"

"Where is the Red Lion?"

"Back at the castle." Keith snapped. "Like I'd bring it here."

Haggar narrowed her eyes. "Very well then. Thace! To central command!"

Keith looked back as the door closed and the ship started to rumble. 

_Goodbye, Lance._

_I never got to tell you how much I loved you._

-

"Hunk, I've just recieved a transmission from Thace!" Allura called out to the paladin beside her in the control room. 

"Really? Awesome!" Hunk came over. "Does he know where Keith is? He just up and left, and-"

"Oh no." Allura put her hand over her mouth.

Hunk pushed a few buttons, and got the English version of the message.

_Princess Allura, and the paladins of Voltron:_

_I regret to inform you, that while Keith and I were scouting out a nearby planet, we were ambushed by a group of Galra soldiers. Keith fought bravely, but was struck by a blaster. My godson is no longer with us. In light of this tragedy, I've decided to go back to being an inside spy at one of the Galra Empire's outer stations. As I'm going under deep cover, I will not be able to contact you unless it is an emergency._

_Thace._

"How are we going to defeat Zarkon now?" Hunk whispered.

"Who's going to tell Shiro?" Allura fretted.

Hunk's stomach sunk.  _Who's going to tell Lance?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna be doing a "update as i write them" to try to get this finished before season 2


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im trying to get this done before the new season its in two days i c a n d o t h i s

**Part 3: End Times**

**Chapter I**

* * *

"So he's dead." Lance whispered. "Like... dead."

"I'm so sorry." Hunk said. "I know you... yah, maybe shouldn't bring that up right now."

"It's fine. I'd rather remember the guy I think I was in love with than forget him." Lance smiled bitterly at the memory. "Godspeed, Keith."

-

"What are the paladins' weaknesses?" Haggar asked. 

"I'll die before I tell you." Keith spat out blood.

The crackle of electricity. A scream.

"What are the paladins' weaknesses!"

"Rot in hell!"

"I will break you."

"You can try."

-

_Two Weeks Later_

-

Lance was yelling curses as the Galra dragged him to what he could only assume was the throne room. "Let me go and I might spare your lives you horrible, cruel, foul-"

"Silence." They growled.

"All of you can burn in hellfire for all I care! Actually, I'll toss you in!"

"You're in hellfire now, paladin."

Lance was shoved to the ground as they opened the door. Then, literally dragging him by the collar of his armor, he was brought before Zarkon.  _This is what I get for being too slow in battle, I guess._ He kept his head down in a mock bow as Zarkon spoke. "You're the Blue Paladin of Voltron, of course."

Lance looked up, ready to say something snapping and sarcastic that would probably get him killed when he saw someone, and promptly forgot how to breathe.

"Keith?" He said, somewhere between a breath and a whisper.

The red paladin was standing at Zarkon's side, and his eyes were cold and impassive. He looked down at Lance, head tilted, and his eyes flashed yellow for just a second. He frowned, and his ears flattened against his hair. Then he looked away.

"I thought you were dead!" Lance cried out, a horrible feeling building in his gut.

"Obviously not." Zarkon scoffed.

Lance looked at Keith, accusing and betrayed. "You left us for  _him_?"

Keith's left ear twitched and his grip tightened on the knife in his hand, but he didn't move to answer Lance.

"Hey! I'm right here! Answer me!"

"I'm ignoring you, Lance." Keith said coldly, voice haughty in a way Lance hadn't known it could be. A silver crown in his hair glittered in the harsh light. "Surely you should know better by now."

Lance frowned slightly and turned back to Zarkon. "You'll never win."

"I already have. This is just... how do you Earthlings say- the icing on the cake."

Zarkon looked at Keith and nodded to the knife in his hand. "Kill him."

Keith's eyes flashed, and he gave a tight nod. Lance swore his heart stopped beating for a moment as Keith stepped in front of him.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Keith whispered, eyes flickering between dark and bright. "Yell at me how I betrayed you? How you wish I  _was_ dead?"

"Nah. Not worth the breath." Lance looked at him hopefully.  _Please let that have been a sign, please let it be a sign..._

"Good." Keith nodded slowly and raised his blade. He took a shaky breath, and spun on his heel, fingers outstretched as he threw the blade at Zarkon.

Zarkon caught the blade in his fingers before it hit his chest. "Well then." He said, actually seeming surprised. "If that's how you want to play."

"Run." Keith said and grabbed Lance's arm, pulling him away as Zarkon brought out his bayard. Keith brought out a much smaller knife and slashed Lance's handcuffs off. "Now!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a two part chapter! technically. im at school right now you get the rest when i get home *jazz hands*
> 
> ps, if you're confused, I'd reread Part 1, Chapter III


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rest of the previous chapter!

**Part 3: End Times**

**Chapter II**

* * *

 

Keith grabbed his hand and dragged him behind a pillar to avoid a slash from Zarkon's giant sword. Lance panted. "You could have called for help sooner you know." He said. "You should know better."  
  
"Aren't we glad you came up with that stupid code word." Keith grinned and kicked the wall. It collapsed, revealing an air system. "We gotta go."  
  
The air shaft was cramped and blasted air that was too cold in one part then air that was too hot in another. Keith's ears were pressed flat the entire time, like he was trying to make them disappear.  
  
He knocked on the wall. "Exit here. Would you like to do the honors?"  
  
Lance kicked the wall and they exited into a hallway. "Ok, what the hell just happened? We thought you were dead for two weeks, then we find out you're alive but with Zarkon, but nope you've apparently been playing him and you didn't tell anyone anything and-"  
  
"If I told you, would you had let me go? No."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I was going to gain his trust, then poison him in his sleep or something. That obviously didn't go so hot." Keith frowned. "But we don't have time to talk."  
  
"The others." Lance swore. "They have to know I'm-"  
  
"On it."  
  
"Did you arrange for me to get captured?" Lance asked.  
  
"No!" Keith's eyes widened in horror. "Lance, I was trying to protect all of you! I drove Galra ships away from places I knew you were and I tried so hard to rig the fight so you could win but it didn't work and I blew my cover early for you."  
  
Lance gulped. "I missed you."  
  
"I missed you too." Keith whispered and pressed their foreheads together for a brief moment.  
  
They ran through the ship as fast as they could while avoiding Galra patrols to get to the prisons where the other paladins would be held. Almost there, they ran into a Galra soldier, armed to the teeth.  
  
"Thace." Keith breathed in relief, and went up to him and hugged him.  
  
"Keith." Thace held him tight.  
  
Lance growled. "You lied in that letter- Keith isn't dead, why would you-"  
  
"Lance, I orchestrated it." Keith said. "Thace didn't like it, but he's the reason I'm alive."  
  
"Barely." Thace snapped. "You're horribly malnourished, dehydrated, and-"  
  
"Sick." Lance whispered, looking at Keith's paler than usual skin, shaking frame, and too bright eyes. "You're sick."  
  
Keith nodded. "About a day or two on here, I got sick. Thace helped me narrow the causes down- they poisoned my food. And I assume the cure is in whatever vile substance Haggar wants me to take. I stopped eating the food. And just to be safe, I stopped drinking the water. I only eat or drink what Thace directly gives me, and it isn't usually much. And I haven't gotten better."  
  
"You're getting worse. We have to get you to Coran- he'd know what to do."  
  
"Yah." Keith whispered. "But we have to escape here first."  
  
"Blue." Lance cursed. "Where is she?"  
  
"Lower decks." Keith said. "If we hurry, we can get there before-"  
  
"Too late for that." Thace said sadly. "Blue is heavily guarded."  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
Keith set his shoulders. "Follow my lead."  
  
\---  
  
"Your lead sucks." Lance muttered.  
  
"Shut up." Keith hissed. He pointed through the grate. "Look, there's Blue."  
  
"This plan is terrible." Lance muttered again, looking at the amount of sentries and soldiers surrounding his lion.  
  
"I'm not denying that." Keith shrugged and kicked at the grate. It didn't budge. "It shouldn't be this hard." He panted.  
  
Lance kicked it and it fell on top of a sentry. "You need medical attention."  
  
"Are we really doing this now?" Keith snapped and jumped, landing in the midst of soldiers and slashing at the nearest one. (Where was he getting all these knives? Lance wondered as he jumped down too.)

Lance followed him, and Keith tossed him a knife. "Get to Blue!" Keith yelled.

Lance nodded, and ran to his lion, fighting off anyone who  _dared_ to get in his way. "Blue! Baby!" He called out, and she let down her particle barrier for him, opening up. "Keith, we gotta go!"

"See yah, losers." Keith spat at the Galra, and bolted to the Blue Lion. The Galra soldiers were right behind him, and then Thace came in through the main door with a  _machine gun_. Lance gasped as he stood on the ramp Blue provided to let him in. "Thace is pretty cool."

Thace fought off the sentries. As they all lay on the ground, he jogged forward. "Come on, let's go."

Then several things happened at once, or more like a perfect sequence right after the other after the other.

A sentry crawled off the ground and grabbed a gun.

Thace looked back at saw it. 

The sentry fired.

The sentry fell over and died.

Thace moved, lightning quick in front of the blast.

Keith realized all this had happened. 

He realized the blast had been meant for him.

Thace slumped forward.

Lance caught him, and dragged him into the lion.

As Keith's ears stopped ringing, he realized Lance was calling him.

He walked into the lion.

\---

"Thace." Keith gasped. Thace was leaning against a wall in the lion, while Lance piloted, giving them the semblance of privacy. "Thace, come on, just a little farther."

Thace groaned and touched his chest, where the blast had got him. "Yah."

"Come on, Thace, just..." Keith choked and felt his eyes flash. "Hold out. For me. Please, you-"

"Ardaline?" Thace rasped. "You..."

"No, it's me, Keith, his son." Keith hiccuped out a sob. "Thace, you're not going to die here."

"Keith..." Thace smiled. "It's alright."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little. But it's okay."

"This is my fault. You took that for me." Keith whispered.

Thace grabbed his hand. "It's okay." Thace made a low, rumbly purring noise deep in his throat. Without really meaning to, Keith mimicked it, hoping it would give him some sort of comfort.

"Ardaline..." Thace whispered one last time, and his alert yellow eyes stared at the ceiling. "You came..."

Keith was a mix of low purrs and human sobs. "Please, Thace. Just a little longer?"

He didn't reply, but smiled and stared vacantly. Keith closed his eyes, and then did the same to Thace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and SEASON 2 IS ON FRIDAY PEOPLE THE FUTURE IS NOW


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO i didnt finish before season 2, but we're going to ignore season 2 (i havent finished it anyway) and proceed with the fic get it got it good 
> 
> i love writing things in my history class

**Part 3: End Times**

**Chapter III**

* * *

"I have to kill Zarkon." Keith said to Lance, walking up right next to him.

"Seriously?"

"Two weeks there was hell, but it taught me one thing. He's a terrible leader. He'll lead the empire...  _my_ empire, to ruin. That throne is mine by birthright, and I need to prove it." 

"Woah." Lance looked back at him. "That's some powerful statement."

Keith nodded, and then he suddenly broke out into a sweat, and his legs got wobbly. "Crap." He hissed, leaning against Lance's chair. "The poison."

"We'll get you to the castle." Lance promised. "You'll be fine."

"We make a good team." Keith murmured. "Lance, I never told you but I... I think I'm in lo-"

"Blue, autopilot please." Lance yelled to his lion, and stood up quickly. He put his hand on Keith's forehead. "Before you say anything, can we get back to the castle first. Please?"

"Okay." Keith said. Lance nodded. "Alright. You're clammy. I think you have a fever too." He looked down. "Your hands are bloody. Here, let me help."

Keith stood still while Lance helped him wash the blood off his hands. "You okay?"

"Is this what shock feels like?" Keith breathed shakily. "I wanted to infiltrate Zarkon's base, and now Thace is dead. I mean, I didn't like him most of the time, but... that was... ah."

"Ah." Lance agreed.

-

"Paladins!" Allura called out. "The Blue Lion is approaching!"

"What?" Hunk asked. "Are you sure? He made it out!"

"That's great news." Shiro grinned. "Open the bay door for him. We'll great him there."

In the Blue Lion's docking bay, the paladins watched as Blue set down, and her claws clinked against the castle. They waited, and eventually Lance walked out, supporting a very pale Keith.

"No way." Pidge gaped at him.

"He's been poisoned!" Lance called out as he walked down. "Coran, I need a healing pod, stat!"

"How is this possible?" Allura gasped. 

"Thace must have lied, where is he-" Matt started, before Lance interrupted, "he's dead."

Silence. "Oh."

"His body's in the lion." Lance said as he helped Coran carry Keith to the pods. "Don't let it rot in there."

"Shiro?" Pidge's voice piped up, and Shiro realized he'd been staring blankly at the mouth of the Blue Lion since Lance and Keith limped out. "He's alive." He whispered.

_My little brother is alive._

-

Keith sat on top of Red. "Hey, girl." He whispered. "Miss me?"

The Red Lion didn't exactly respond, but her warmth was clear enough.

"Hey." Lance panted as he crawled up the side of the Lion to where Keith sat. "What are you still doing up?"

Keith shrugged. "Why did you stop me from saying anything earlier? In your Lion."

"Well... I wanted to make sure that if you were going to say what I thought you were going to say, that you wren't delirious from pain while you said it, and also because when I said it back, I didn't want you to be literally dying of Galra poison when I did..." Lance leaned forward slightly, and brushed his lips against Keith's hesitantly. "...this."

Keith couldn't resist smiling. "And what was it you thought I was going to say?"

"Pretty sure that was obvious." Lance mumbled, burying his head in the crook of Keith's neck. 

"Can you say it anyway?" 

"I thought you were going to say  _I'm in love with you._ To which I would respond,  _of course you are, now kiss me_."

"Gladly." Keith grinned and kissed Lance's smile.

-

Allura was chatting absently with Coran as she piloted the castle when Lance and Keith walked in. "You're okay." She called out warmly.

"Can we send out a video com to Zarkon?" Keith asked. In response, Allura blinked like she'd been slapped. "Yes, but  _why would we want to?_ "

Keith stood up straight, and for the first time Allura could see a Galran prince. "To issue a challenge for the throne."

"That's-" Coran started.

"I know, stupid and dangerous." Lance held out his hands. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't be swayed."

"It's not because I'm not scared." Keith admitted. "I am... terrified. But it needs to be done. It's the right thing to do."

"What makes you think you can take him down?"

"Because the universe depends on it." 

Keith and Allura maintained eye contact. Finally, she gave a sharp nod. "Fine. You'll do it anyway, even if I say no, so what's the point?"

"Thanks." Keith breathed.

"I'm setting up a com now." Coran called.

-

Keith stood alone before the large glowing screen. "Zarkon." He called out.

The screen flashed. "That's Emperor Zarkon to you, paladin."

"No it's not." Keith snapped, and remembered to breathe. "You have something that belongs to me."

"And that is?"

"My throne."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my main tumblr is witchlightsands and if you wanna talk voltron spoilers head to pidgespuppets


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *violently ignores that season 2 happened in favor of finishing my fic*

**Part 3: End Times**

**Chapter IV**

* * *

Zarkon laughed at him. " _Your_ throne?"

"My throne." Keith agreed. "I am the rightful heir to the Galran throne- the throne that you  _stole_. If you will not give it over peacefully, I'll challenge you to a duel."

Zarkon laughed even more. "Alright, little princeling. I accept your duel. A fight to the death. Winner gets the throne. Any weapons you want. Tomorrow, my command center, my arena, your equivalent of Earth noon. And yes, I get to decide all those things."

"Let it be done." Keith nodded, and cut off the video com.

His ears felt twitchy. They hadn't been twitching, had they? God, that would have been embarrassing. He was supposed to be dignified. And stuff. He really hoped his ears hadn't been twitching. 

"So, how was that?" Allura asked when he walked out into the hall. "Did he accept?"

"Yah." Keith breathed. "His place. Tomorrow, noon."

"Aw yeah, show down at high noon!" Lance said, making finger guns and smirking. 

"I don't use guns, Lance." Keith huffed. "I have lazy eye."

"Right." Lance nodded. "So are you going to end up bringing a knife to a gunfight? Literally?"

"I- I guess I kind of have to." Keith shrugged.

"I'll tell the others." Allura sighed. 

"I'll check the wormhole modulator." Coran straightened his jacket and walked off.

Before Lance could go, Keith grabbed his hand. "Can I have a hug?" He asked.

"You alright?" Lance asked as he embraced him.

"If you let go I think I may shatter." Keith laughed. "Please just keep looking at me so I can pretend we're going to be okay."

"If you loose the duel, I'll make sure to avenge you." Lance promised.

Keith rested his head on his shoulder and snorted. "Really?"

"Yah, I'll take out Zarkon for you. Make it extra painful."

"You're a dork."

"I'm a cute dork, though."

"Yah." Keith smiled. "You are."

"Keith that's gay."

"I'm gay."

"I know. I love you."

Keith smiled. "Love you too."

-

The time came.

"This is such a bad idea." Lance said to Keith. "I support you, but just so you know, this is a terrible idea."

"I know."

"Like, really bad."

"I know."

Lance started flapping his hands. "I'm calm." He promised.

"I know." Keith said absently, tossing his bayard from hand to hand. Allura had given Keith a crash course in Galra duel etiquette, and apparently it was customary to have your partner, if you had one, send you off to battle. Keith had nodded, grabbed Lance's hand, and went down to where he was supposed to be. Lance almost smiled, imagining the reaction the others were having up in the stands. 

Almost.

_What a fun first date- sending off your boyfriend to fight a duel to the death for the Galran throne._

"Kay." Keith breathed. "Wish me luck."

"We're going on a proper date after this, I hope you realize." Lance pointed out. 

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Keith grinned. "Hey, you speak Latin, right? How do you say 'rest in pieces, Zarkon'?"

Lance's laugh wobbled, and he teared up. "Just come back, please."

Keith bit his lip and looked down. "Yah."

-

As he walked out into the arena, Keith wondered how his life ended up like this. In the end, it was probably his fault. 

Did he even want to be king?

If he was honest...

Yah. He did.

He wanted to be a _good_ king.

"Paladin." Zarkon barked, and Keith turned around. "Face me."

Keith turned to face him, bayard gripped tight in his hand, ready to be activated at any time. The duel started whenever either of them made the first move, and wasn't over until one of them was dead. 

Quiet ran through the arena. 

Keith moved his arm up to get his bayard into position and was knocked across the arena, into a wall. He felt a crack in his ribs, and groaned. His forehead felt wet. He touched his hand there and it came away bloody.

"First blood." Someone in the audience yelled out, and the chant quickly took up.

_I have made a mistake._

-

Shiro kinda felt bad for crushing Allura and Matt's hands with his death grip, but he couldn't let go. They were all that was keeping him anchored at the moment. He bit his lip as Keith stood up shakily, before clutching his side in pain. "Why did we let him do this? Zarkon is too powerful."

Allura frowned. "Even that's... strange. He shouldn't be so powerful, even after all these years."

"His armor just sparked." Matt pointed out. "Is he allowed armor? I mean, Keith has his, but Zarkon's is more heavy duty."

"Spark?" Allura squinted. "That's magic."

"Is that allowed?"

"No." Allura stood up. "It's the witch, Haggar. We have to find her."

-

Keith threw himself at Zarkon, and his bayard was efficiently blocked.

 _How am I not dead yet?_ He thought as he attacked again and again, his ribs burning with every movement. As Zarkon kicked his legs out from under him, he realized.  _He's playing with me._

 _Dammit._ He crashed to the ground.

_I should have known._

_I'm sorry, to everyone I let down._

-

The area between the arena and the place Lance was was protected by a force field. He knew 'cause he'd tried to run out there several times. 

Keith was laying motionless before Zarkon, panting as he tried to pull himself up. Zarkon kicked his bayard away. Keith locked eyes with Lance. Even from far away, Lance could see the scrapes on his face, and how his eyes were red with tears, and the iris was flickering glowing yellow. There was a rip in one of his ears.

Zarkon raised his bayard, in the form of a large sword.

" _No!_ " Lance screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr is witchlightsands, voltron spoiler tumblr is pidgespuppets
> 
> only two chapters left and one is the epilogue whoop


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive been binge updating this because i was too awkward to get it done before season 2 and if i dont finish it now i never will
> 
> fair disclaimer- what the heck is a fight scene and how do i write them

**Part 3: End Times**

**Chapter V**

* * *

 

Matt pointed down the hall. "Found her." He hissed. 

Shiro ran out, arm activated, Allura at his side with a Galran gun they'd stolen from a guard.

-

Lance pounded on the shield with a rock. "Keith!  _Keith_!"

_Come on, God, please..._

_-_

Pidge and Hunk were on the edge of their seats. "This isn't good.

"Keith! Get up!"

-

" _Keith. Keith!."_

The voices rang in his ears. He groaned and tried to shut them out.

"Get up, son."

Keith's eyes flew open. He was in the arena still, but when he looked at his hands they were see through. "Am I dead?" He called out. "No! Send me back!"

"You're not dead." The voice said. Keith turned around. It was a galra, partially see through, with a slight smile, and dressed in blue Earth clothes.

His ears were black.

"Ardaline." He gasped. 

"Keith." He smiled. "Zarkon will only be fooled by this ruse for so long. Listen- his armor has a weak spot behind the knee. Hit it there, and it'll all crumble off."

"Wait-" Keith choked out. "You're-"

"Keith, I am your father." Ardaline looked sad. "I wish I could have known you. Suppose it's too late now."

"Thace?" Keith blurted out.

"He's with me." Ardaline's face turned into a smile. "Now hurry. If you stay any longer, Zarkon will destroy your body, and your friends will be devastated."

"I'll make you proud!" Keith promised.

"You already have, son. Rule your kingdom well and fair. You have my blessing."

"Thank you." Keith closed his eyes again.

-

Hunk saw Shiro and his partners (he'd dubbed them the Space Trio) running towards them. "How's the fight?" Shiro panted.

"Not good." Hunk pointed to where Keith was lying bleeding on the ground, motionless. He heard Shiro hiss an intake of breath. "No."

"Where were you?" Pidge asked.

"Haggar is dead." Allura said.

"Really?" Pidge stood up. "How did you do that?"

"Is Zarkon's armor sparking anymore?" Matt asked, leaning over the railing. "It's glow is fading."

"Shiro?" Hunk asked. His hands were gripping the railing.

-

Keith blinked and heard thunderous booing.

The crowd was booing Zarkon.

"I won!" He growled. "I will rule the universe!"

"No." Keith rasped. "You won't."

Zarkon turned to face him. "You- I killed you."

"Obviously not." Keith stood up. "I'm still alive. And you're going down."

"You don't even have a weapon." Zarkon scoffed. "And you're in no condition to attack me with your bare hands."

"Keith!" He heard someone yell, and looked up. It was Matt, with Shiro holding him up. "Haggar is dead! We killed Haggar!"

Beside him was Hunk, who threw him a knife. The second Keith jumped up and caught it, it turned into a sword. "Whoa."

There was a gun blast. Lance stormed over to him. "Don't scare me like that again." He snapped at Keith while he pointed his bayard at Zarkon.

The rest of the paladins got the memo, and started running down the the arena ground. Zarkon looked panicked. "You were dead."

"Really?" Keith yelled. "No! I wasn't! I won't die here! Not now! Not this way!"

"If they kill me, you don't get your claim." Zarkon said.

"Then I'll kill you. But they're my team, and they're my family." Keith looked up to the crowd. "Do you know who I am?" He demanded.

"No." The crowd answered, and Keith was stunned.

"Of course they don't." Lance muttered. "Why would Zarkon tell them someone has a better claim to the throne than him?"

Keith breathed. "My name is Keith. I'm the red paladin of Voltron. And I'm half Galra. My father was Ardaline."

The name sent ripples through the crowd. Keith strained his voice to be louder. "Zarkon  _stole_ the throne from the royal family! And now I'm here to take it back! I am Keith Kogane, and I am the son of Ardaline, and I am the rightful king of the Galra Empire!" He pointed his sword at Zarkon. "Now  _give me back my throne_."

"Long live the king!"

"Death to Zarkon!"

"Keith! Keith! Keith!"

Shiro ran into the arena, sending up sand as he ran. "They love you." He grinned.

"Got any last words, Zarkon?" Allura asked.

Zarkon growled and attacked.

And team Voltron attacked as one.

-

After Keith yelled it, Lance shot Zarkon in the back of the knee. His armor really did fall off, leaving him in a black body suit like the ones the paladins wore under their armor. 

Soon after, Hunk hit him in the back.

And then Pidge sliced his arm.

Shiro punched him in the gut with his robot arm.

Allura pushed him into a wall.

Keith found himself holding Zarkon against that wall, his sword against his throat.

"You won't kill me." Zarkon said.

Keith blinked, feeling all eyes on him. "What?"

"You're a good person. You want peace, and all those naive things. You won't stab me. You don't have it in you."

Keith closed his eyes. "You're right."

Zarkon started to smirk, before Keith stabbed him in the side. "I'll stab you twice." He spat, and stabbed his throat, spraying blood all over himself. 

Zarkon choked, and fell to the ground.

Keith breathed, and let his sword fall. He looked back at his team. It was bloody, broken, and scraped up.

But they were all alive.

"Shiro, why is the world all spinny?" He mumbled before falling over. Lance ran over and caught him. "Woah there, hotshot. Come on, let's get some rest."

"Now there's just one last thing we need to do." Pidge said solemnly.

"And that is?" Lance asked.

"Since WHEN have you two been  _partners_!" Hunk burst out. "The rules of the Galra dule stated romantic partners could send them off! Since  _when_ have you two been  _dating_?"

Keith groaned, then burst out laughing.

-

"Your Majesty." One of the Galra generals bowed to him. "It is an honor to serve you."

"T-thank you." Keith stuttered. "For your service."

Once the Galra walked away, he whispered to Lance, "this is so weird. Since I got the crown, everyone's been super supportive."

"Guess everyone loves the new King." Lance grinned and kissed his cheek. "I know I do."

"You  _dork_." Keith laughed. 

This was good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next part is the epilogue! then im done! and can do other things! more klance HECK YEH
> 
> come yell with me my tumblr is witchlightsands, and my sideblog for voltron season 2 spoilers is pidgespuppets!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter! then im done! and i can write OTHER klance things!

**Epilogue**

**Five years later**

* * *

Their first mistake was assuming the best diplomat in the universe and the king of the Galra empire could get married without telling anyone. 

Neither of them had really planned it, honestly, or wanted to make a big deal about it. Their engagement was a casual thing, anyways. They'd been lying under the stars at night, hands lazily intertwined, when Lance turned to face Keith and commented, "We should get married."

Keith replied, "That's a good idea."

Then they went back to looking at the stars.

They didn't even have rings until four months later, when Keith was digging through the Galran treasury and found a simple pair, and gave one to Lance before he went on a diplomatic mission to the Balmera. "For you."

Lance kissed him. "Thanks."

Even their wedding wasn't broadcasted out. Just Lance and Keith, and Hunk for a witness, and even he didn't realize what was happening until Lance and Keith exchanged vows. 

They weren't being secretive or hidden- they just weren't mentioning it much.

Turns out everyone thought that was a problem.

"Keith, where'd you get the ring?" Matt asked one day as they were checking Red's hardware.

"Oh, it's my wedding ring." He shrugged and kept working on his lion.

"WEDDING? RING?" Matt squeaked. 

"What?"

"YOU GOT  _MARRIED_?"

"Yah?"

His advisors had a similar reaction.

"We think it would benefit the Galra empire if you married this prince. He's from-"

Keith blinked. "I'm married."

"You're- you're what."

"To who?" One of them yelped.

"Lance." Keith answered. "We've been dating since we were sixteen, obviously I married him."

"YOU'VE BEEN DATING LANCE FOR FIVE YEARS?"

Shiro was stunned. Supportive, but stunned.

"You're married? To Lance? I wasn't invited?"

"You were busy on the only day we were free." Keith explained. "The next date was months away and we couldn't wait anymore."

"Alright." Shiro sighed. "But still. You weren't supposed to get married before I did. I'm older than you, and I have  _two_ partners."

"Marry them." Keith suggested.

"I WANT TO FIND THE PERFECT CEREMONY KEITH OKAY."

Allura wished them her sincerest congratulations. 

 

"I wish I'd known! Coran and I could have made you a traditional Altean wedding gift!"

"That's kind of you." Keith smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

"Please don't it's very hard to make."

They laughed together.

Keith blinked, and shook his head clear of his memories. He was going to be late to another meeting. His advisors were going to kill him.

He looked at the silver crown on his nightstand, and the golden ring on his finger. His husband was already up and getting ready for the day. Keith managed to grab a jacket, but decided since he was the king, he didn't need to wear shoes to his meeting, and walked out in his fluffy socks.

Lance was waiting for him in the hallway, with a cup of the closest equivalent to coffee they had found. "Hey." He greeted Keith with a kiss.

"Hey." Keith grinned goofily. "Thought you'd be gone by now."

"For once, I'm not needed anywhere to solve any disputes. Meaning once you get out of your meeting, we can have some us time."

Keith purred, and laughed when Lance poked one of his ears. "That tickles!"

"I'm gonna go hang with Hunk and Pidge until you get done. Be nice to remember the Garrison days."

"God, that was so long ago." Keith rubbed his forehead. "Just thinking about it makes me feel old."

"You're twenty one."

"Stiiiiill." Keith smirked and nudged Lance's shoulder. "See you. Love you."

"Love you too." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always my tumblr is witchlightsands, my spoiler blog is pidgespuppets and i am... very lonely lol


End file.
